[2836] in Humor
[Fwd: why don't we get exam question like this?]
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vincent Yeung)
Fri May 28 16:46:39 1999
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 13:44:20 -0700
From: Vincent Yeung <vshyeung@jps.net>
To: humor@MIT.EDU
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: why don't we get exam question like this?
Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 11:38:54 -0400
From: TSTINEBRICKN@DEPAUW.EDU
Reply-To: setmail@listproc.hcf.jhu.edu
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From: IN%"s374383@student.uq.edu.au" "Jennifer Frazer" 8-MAY-1999
20:01:51.05
To: IN%"linny117@hotmail.com" "Linda Cheung",
IN%"scarlet_death@hotmail.com" "Eva Huang",
IN%"demonsmoke7@hotmail.com" "Laura Stroebel", IN%"anr97@yahoo.com"
"Angela Robinson", IN%"s359522@student.uq.edu.au" "Jenny Chao",
IN%"dnicholas@somerville.qld.
CC:
Subj: HELL! (fwd)
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Date: Sun, 09 May 1999 11:01:21 +1000 (GMT+1000)
From: Jennifer Frazer <s374383@student.uq.edu.au>
Subject: HELL! (fwd)
To: Linda Cheung <linny117@hotmail.com>, Eva Huang
<scarlet_death@hotmail.com>,
Laura Stroebel <demonsmoke7@hotmail.com>, Angela Robinson
<anr97@yahoo.com>,
Jenny Chao <s359522@student.uq.edu.au>,
Dale Nicholas <dnicholas@somerville.qld.edu.au>,
Ian Frazer <ifrazer@medicine.pa.uq.edu.au>,
Claire Stroebel <cybertiger@hotmail.com>,
Fiona Quarterman <feeqman@hotmail.com>,
Taren Stinebrickner-Kaufman <TSTINEBRICKN@DEPAUW.EDU>,
Alexandra Geer <ajgeer@hotmail.com>
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Now why don't we get cool exam questions like this?
Hugs, Jen.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 09 May 1999 01:06:11 +1000
From: Garry R. Ford <garry@merddyn.apana.org.au>
Subject: HELL!
Actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term:
"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 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 that area, then (2) cannot be true, and so Hell is
exothermic.
This student got the only A.
---------------
