Normally, I'd never do this...paste a joke forward on to my blog. But this is worth a look, if you all haven't seen it already, and if you have, then "all apologies"! Also, thought that since all my posts are so mopey, I and you could both do with a blog-lift! Here goes...

The University of Washington's chemistry mid term had this bonus
question.

Is Hell exothermic or endothermic?

Most 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 was so "profound" the professor had to
share his answer with his colleagues. It found its way onto the
Internet, and we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Here it is.

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, lets 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 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 still have not
succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be
true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.

The student received the only "A" given.

"There's a fine line 
between genius and insanity. 
I have erased this line."