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 so well.
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   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"