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HEyHEY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 07:56 PM
Original message
Hardy har har
THERMODYNAMICS OF HELL
The following is an actual question given on a
University of Washington chemistry mid term. The
answer by one student was "so profound" that the
professor shared it with colleagues, via the
Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the
pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or
endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs
using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and
heats up when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is
changing in time.
So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into
Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we
can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it
will not leave. Therefore, no souls are
leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at
the different religions that exist in the world today.
Some of these religions state that if you are not a
member of their religion, you will go to Hell.
Since there are more than one of these religions and
since people do not belong to more than one religion,
we can project that all souls go to Hell.
With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect
the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in
Hell because Boyle's law states that in order for the
temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the
volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls
are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate
at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and
pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks
loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the
increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and
pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa
Morrison, during my freshman year, "...that it will be
a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take
into account the fact that I still have not succeeded
in having sexual relations with her, then #2 cannot be
true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and
will not freeze.
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LastKnight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 08:04 PM
Response to Original message
1. science and religion...
not a good mix, considering either one ultimatley proves the other wrong. was this a physics/science course or a theology course?

-LK
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HEyHEY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 08:06 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. Don't know my friend just emailed it to me, I doubt it's true
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unblock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 08:24 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. science and religion can coexist peacefully
science has little to say regarding morality
and religion has little to say regarding thermodynamics.

it's only when people conflate them that the problems arise.

using science to 'prove' mythological stories, or using religion to trump verified observations. that's where the bad news happens.

but so long as religion stays in the inspirational, spritual, moral realm and leaves the matter of fact to science, then all is well.

many scientists find god in the intricate beauty of the natural laws. there's nothing inconsistent about it.

basically, they really have nothing to do with each other. it's just that some people insist on taking ancient allegorical stories about morality as the complete and literal truth and that's where the problems begin....
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baldguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 09:00 PM
Response to Reply #1
6. Its not that they prove one another wrong . . .
You just get non-sensical results.
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THUNDER HANDS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 08:08 PM
Response to Original message
3. um
what was the question?
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Padraig18 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-25-04 08:36 PM
Response to Original message
5. I hope he got an 'A'!
That's a GREAT answer! :P
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