Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997. Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as, "why do airplanes fly?" on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was: "Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof."

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls 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, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and 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 in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

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 quote given to me by Theresa Manyan during 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 Option 2 cannot be true...Thus, hell is exothermic."

The student, Tim Graham, got the only A.

I'd answered "endothermic",at least until judgment day

Mass ( souls) increases 'till judgment day
But : since damnation is eternal,the mass of souls can't be used to produce heat .Hell is eternal too , so its mass can't be used to produce heat too

Temperature must be constant : if T increases older damned souls passed a time at lower temperatures than young damned .If T decreases younger damned will find a lighter punishment . This is impossible since pain must be eternal and unchangeable

So we have :

P V = n R T n= M/MM ( increases) T = constant R = constant

This means that Pressure or Volume must increase

If we imagine Hell as an eternal and unchangeable place , we can assume that its volume is constant .So Pressure increases along with new souls until judgment day

Since Mass can't be used to produce heat and temperature must be constant,hell must take energy from another source,like a pot on the fire
So hell is endothermic

I heard another version of this where the student did in fact get into the young ladies pants (The night before the exam) and thus concluded hell was endothermic. The story, attributed to various professors at various schools, has been around for several years.

Hey guys, Here is the story, full credit to the original author, not me!!!

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 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 God!" "Oh God!" "Oh my God!"