The following is supposedly 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 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 at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which 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. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is 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 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 slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct…leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a Divine Being, which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting, “Oh, My God.”
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY “A” IN THE CLASS.
Originally posted by zeus29:The following is supposedly 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 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 at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which 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. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is 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 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 slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct…leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a Divine Being, which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting, “Oh, My God.”
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY “A” IN THE CLASS.
I read this on Facebook before! It is quite well thought out! But the rules and assumptions here is based on a Christian idea of hell. The person who wrote this obviously have no idea what other faiths' beliefs in hell is.
The Buddhist hell differ with the Christian hell on 2 very important points. The Buddhist hell is not eternal. Hell beings suffer in that realm for a long, long time depending on their karma. But they will only suffer based on their karma and when the karma to suffer in hell is exhausted, they will 'die' and take rebirth in higher realms. The second point about the Buddhist hell is that non-Buddhist are not necessarily condemned to hell. It depends solely on their karma. In Buddhism, aggression and anger are very powerful causes to take rebirth in hell.
Originally posted by Steveyboy:I read this on Facebook before! It is quite well thought out! But the rules and assumptions here is based on a Christian idea of hell. The person who wrote this obviously have no idea what other faiths' beliefs in hell is.
The Buddhist hell differ with the Christian hell on 2 very important points. The Buddhist hell is not eternal. Hell beings suffer in that realm for a long, long time depending on their karma. But they will only suffer based on their karma and when the karma to suffer in hell is exhausted, they will 'die' and take rebirth in higher realms. The second point about the Buddhist hell is that non-Buddhist are not necessarily condemned to hell. It depends solely on their karma. In Buddhism, aggression and anger are very powerful causes to take rebirth in hell.
Agreed. Some schools think hell is a state of mind, too. every moment itself is a rebirth. One minute happy ( deva) , one minute sad (hell) .
Actually, all experiences are states of mind created by the previous actions. Hell does not need to be in another dimension, it can be here on earth, in war-torn countries and in places where people revel in torturing and killing each other. That is close to hellish existence anyway but the real thing is more intense and for a longer period of time.
true that! :)
Originally posted by reborn76:Hi Zeus
I do have my reservation the discuss took place in the University level. As the premises of HELL as a place is not possible. It need to be a visible, physical place where empirical observation and test can be repeated. To discuss on it will be a laughing stock in the chemistry or physicist academic world.
Most probably is a Internet Hoax.
Well reborn76,
It doesn't really matter but the question and logic behind the answer is quite good and quite compelling. However, that is in assumption that hell is eternal and beings only take rebirth there and one can never leave it. No matter how distant the concept is, it does not mean that hell does not exist because the Buddha spoke about it quite extensively and so, it must exist and the Buddha also spoke up what would create the cause to take rebirth there. May no one create such powerful negative karma of taking rebirth in hell.
Soul taking the form of one's body.
The assumption that soul only goes to hell and cannot leave is one sided human altering a generous masterplan. And why not just having a masterplan to bypass human and hell as heavenly beings instead. In such kindness and generosity, it's hell-less and only heaven. But, the logical fact of the above mentioned assumption that the student has to engage in chemistry or physicist academic world, is still human. Student should visit the above mentioned Boyle’s Law in the circusmtances of deeds individually and collectively, in this manner, it's more dynamic, demoractic in science and may or may not be exhaustive. It can also extensively either non living or living beings, environment and cosmos. And at the end of lesson, there is a something worth in interpersonal for collective social well beings and with its enivronment as well. This should be the Boyle’s Law philosophy.