Re: [Phys-l] Midterm Bonus Question (University of Washington)

[curtis osterhoudt <flutzpah@yahoo.com>]

I love how these stories have been passed around for years, with some minor, and some major, variations. Each, of course, is started with a "this is a true story, and isn't the student clever?" introduction. 


Ever hear the other variations on "Is Hell endothermic or exothermic?". Or the ones about the barometer measuring the building height? Or the cheek-cell-culture ones?

 
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"The four points of the compass be logic, knowledge, wisdom and the unknown. Some do bow in that final direction. Others advance upon it. To bow before the one is to lose sight of the three. I may submit to the unknown, but never to the unknowable." ~~Roger Zelazny, in "Lord of Light"
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> ________________________________
> From: "carmelo@pacific.net.sg" <carmelo@pacific.net.sg>
> To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 7:36 PM
> Subject: [Phys-l] Midterm Bonus Question (University of Washington)
>
> The following is an actual question given on a University of  
> Washington engineering mid-term. The answer was so “profound” that the  
> Professor shared it with colleagues, and the sharing obviously hasn’t  
> ceased…
>
> 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 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 us 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?
>
> This student received the only A.
>
>
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