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Essay, " What is Hell"



Here is a short, but interesting, essay that you may
not have seen before.

Herb
The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term.

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, (gascools 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, lets 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
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. Of course, 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 Ms. Teresa Banyan 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.

The student received the only "A" given.