How Hot Is It In Hell?
A thermodynamics professor at Texas A&M University had written a take =
home exam for his graduate students. It had one question:
"Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?  =
Support your answer with a proof."
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.=20
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's 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 people =
and 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 =
it freezes over.
So which is it? =20
If we accept the postulate given to me by Lisa Banyan during my  =
Freshman year, "That it will be a cold night 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 so Hell =
is exothermic.
The student got the only A.