Is Hell hot or not?


Recommended Posts

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. Most 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 yields 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 continue to

increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2) If the volume of Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the

increase of the volume 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

Bayman 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 an affair with her, then #2 above cannot be

true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze

over."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY A

Link to comment
Share on other sites

seen this before but everytime i do it changes slightly and new things are added/changed such as the girls name, the grammer and the award he received. not sure if this is legit anymore

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh, the good old urban legend.

P.S., I'd say hell is cold.

My friend once suggested to me that evil is nothing. That instead of been the opposite of good it is the lack of good. So if heaven is something, then hell is nothing. If we survive as a form of energy, then hell is the lack of energy (hence cold)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

he got the percentage of souls going to hell right, though.

i hate the fact that most religions are so untolerant.

american protestants ('christians') especially...

im going to hell. im scared.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if we're going from the point of view that hell is a place you go to be tortured after death, it'll be whatever you dislike most, so hell is gonna be the temp you hate, and a place you hate, with people you hate

which leaves me, going to hell, which'll be about 27 degrees, heaven, and popualated with the very religous do-gooders

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who says Hell has to be hot. Even the Bible doesn't say that it is literally hot. It simply uses "hot" as a metaphor for explaining that Hell is torturous. It has just been played up by those who take too many of the Bible's proverbs and metaphors as being literal. :yes: Just my view of course. :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Oh come on people ...

Hell being hot is based on the garbage dumps outside of ancient Jerusalem.

And the only 'real' Hell, is caused by your personal beliefs, immediately after death. Those who don't believe in Hell will not experience it. Those who do, the experience is very temporary. You will either be shocked out of it, or guides will step in to rescue you.

You should believe that you and the Universe are blessed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe in a supreme being. Whether that is the Christian God or not doesn't really matter to me (at this point). I have to believe that something bigger than me is out there... I need to believe that I have some purpose... :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd have flunked the guy. Seeing as a soul is to have no solid liquid or gas type form, so how can you measure its volume? I'd think of a soul as more of a source of light. It doesn't take up any space, can pass through objects, among other things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.