supersecondrow Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Chemistry Exam The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry final exam: "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. 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 us 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? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Therese 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 thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic." The student got the only A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Rofl, that's great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyrisch Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 You know this didn't actually happen, right? It's a chain letter. It's hilarious regardless but I'm just making sure you're not one of the people who believes that this was an actual question on an exam and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Haha, Classic! You know this didn't actually happen, right? It's a chain letter. It's hilarious regardless but I'm just making sure you're not one of the people who believes that this was an actual question on an exam and all that. Everyone know that no-one would dare in reality unless they think otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPanic Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Hehe, good one. New to me. To be honest, I haven't before seen the connection between the term exothermic and compression / expansion. It's usually used for chemical reactions. Since hell is probably a closed system, I'm sure it's adiabatic compression / expansion, which means that internally the temperature is going to change, but no heat will be absorbed or given off at all. I would have answered something related to the burning of the damned, which might in fact be endothermic because of the 70% water our bodies contain. but then again, I don't live in Washington, and I already got my degree so all crappy exams can go to hell and absorb or give off as much heat as they please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hope777 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 thats Hilarious...well while reading it I was having in mind such a genius boy he might be:D....but it isn't true..right?.. I knew that already....that it is exothermic.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xopeaceoutt Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thats hilarious. Imagine if it was true! I think even if it was true, itd get an A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladeira Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 haha Awesome joke. I'm gonna translate it to tell friends. But, I've got a question, is this freaking real?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPanic Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 It's not (freaking) true or real, because it contains mistakes (or at least a creative use of the words exothermic and endothermic), and therefore I'd doubt that anyone would get an A for it. I've also tried to get a good grade wit a good joke. But a good professor only gives good marks for good answers, not funny answers. As I wrote before, the terms exothermic and endothermic relate to chemical reactions, and the funny answer by the "student" discusses expansion and/or compression. So, if you are going to translate it, please also correct it. You can get an A+ for it Sorry for a serious post here... but this is a science forum after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermanntrude Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 it doesnt have to be a chemical reaction to be exo or endothermic. anything which loses heat is exothermic. Traditionally it's for chemical reactions and certain physical processes, but there's nothing wrong with using it for hell. However as you said it isn't a true story. You said that a good professor only gives marks for a good answer, Another thing that needs to be said is that a good professor doesn't ask dumb questions in their exams. Because of the nature of hell (unproven, part of a system of belief and fairly undefined), the question can only be answered subjectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPanic Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Hmm... my previous post could have been better. Let me try again. First of all: "In thermodynamics, the term exothermic (literally meaning "outside heating") describes a process or reaction that releases energy [...]". Since hell is neither a process or reaction, but can be considered (in chemical terms) a substance, the words exothermic or endothermic already do not apply. In an easy example: consider the combustion of methane. CH4 + 3 O2 --> CO2 + 2 H2O I say that the reaction is exothermic. Other people seem to imply that CO2 and H2O are exothermic (since they give off the heat?) I think we can agree that it is the reaction that gives off the heat. Consider a compressor, and a gas cylinder. The compressor pushes gas into the cylinder. The cylinder will heat up. Is the cylinder exothermic? I do not think so. In fact, I doubt that the compressor can be considered exothermic or endothermic. The reaction that powers the compressor is what is exothermic or endothermic. Edited February 27, 2009 by CaptainPanic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermanntrude Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 perhaps the process of hell's existance could be described as exothermic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Off topic, but I can imagine that if you put that kind of question into an exam you would be so much in trouble. Hmm unless maybe it is marked with something like "bonus question". That gives me ideas.... Edited February 27, 2009 by CharonY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaeroll Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 What year was the question set? I'm pretty sure hell froze over in 1994. Either that or Don Henley's a dirty liar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 When I last saw a version of this joke, the student reaches the opposite conclusion: "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 two 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!'."" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Actually now I think I recall this version, too. Was already around when I was student. Only that I think that I actually read it in paper form. Maybe in the student's magazine of the uni or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Skeptic Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Off topic, but I can imagine that if you put that kind of question into an exam you would be so much in trouble. Hmm unless maybe it is marked with something like "bonus question". That gives me ideas.... Yes, I was thinking that it might be a decent bonus question. I've seen bonus questions that were completely unrelated to the course, and since this is at least marginally related to the subject and also funny it would be a good candidate for a bonus question ... if the prof dared put it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermanntrude Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 the discussion went heavily off-topic here and began an interesting discussion on whether students should be allowed extra time or assistance in exams if they have disabilities. extra posts moved to a new thread in "science education" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpt90 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 all of that is factual and true.... i know so, because the muffin man told me........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now