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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?
Â
/**************************************
"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"
***************************************/
_______________________________________________________________________________
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 ofÂ
Washington engineering mid-term. The answer was so “profound†that
theÂ
Professor shared it with colleagues, and the sharing obviously hasn’tÂ
ceased…
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or EndothermicÂ
(absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote Proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law,Â
(gas cools off when it expands and heats when it is compressed) orÂ
some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
“First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. SoÂ
we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rateÂ
they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soulÂ
gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. AsÂ
for how many souls are entering Hell, let us look at the differentÂ
religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions stateÂ
that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.Â
Since there are more than one of these religions and since people doÂ
not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls goÂ
to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect theÂ
number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell becauseÂ
Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure inÂ
Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls areÂ
added. This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which soulsÂ
enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increaseÂ
until all Hell breaks loose.
2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increaseÂ
of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop untilÂ
Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
This student received the only A.
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
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Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l