[glinert]

Hell exothermic or endothermic, this open question, discuss.

[Korimyr the Rat]

He's asking whether Hell absorbs heat or emits heat.

Tricky question, since, assuming Hell is infinite, if it were exothermic, it would very quickly run out of heat unless it also contained an infinite amount of energy-- which is impossible. On the other hand, if it were endothermic, it would be perceived by the people stuck there as very, very cold.

Then again, this does fit many pre-Dante descriptions...

[Comrade Ogilvy]

Err, this is hard to put into words. Many people have other thoughts of what hell is. One person I know said they believe hell is where everything you want is in front of you but you can't have it.

[glinert]

This problem not religious one at all, it totally scientific and actually fun question. Let us assume that people who bad go to place called hell.

So for this problem let us should know eqaution.

(PV/T)initial=(PV/T)final

and PV=nRT

So therefore it to be discussed problems of infinite souls entering hell and what happening.

Not take problem quite seriously and relgiously and make it too political instead go for funny scientific problem.

[arcis]

pV = NkT

p: pressure inside hell
V: Volume (set as const)
N: Numebr of souls (set as increasing)
T: Temperature inside hell
k: Boltzmann constant

If the torture of souls (mean velocity of each soul) stays constant and the state of hell can be compared to an ideal gas (volume of hell is much bigger than volume of all souls, no interaction between souls, all tortures are without energy loss), then new souls will increase the pressure inside the hell. Temperature in hell will stay constant. (torture of souls is constant)

Therefore hell is neither endo- nor exothermic. Assumed temperature was in equilibrium state before the arrival of the new souls.

[glinert]

Okay let us assume hell much like Carnot Engine, then Isothermal expansion and entrance of energy reservoir and adiabatic expansion happen first. We can assume energy reservoir to be Satan. Hell would therefore give of energy in adiabatic compression.

Thermal efficiency of hell=1-(Tc/Th)

[Wilhelm]

Let us assume that Hell needs an energy source to provide the fire with which souls are burnt. Now, let us assume that souls also have some energy which can be used to burn other souls.

Let us start.

So God sets up Hell, and being a cheap prick he provides a finite amount of energy (to compensate for the infinite air conditioning system set up at Heaven) for Hell to keep on burning.

Let us call the energy source a 'Big Burner', and the Big Burner burns a substance known as 'Evil Ether'. The quantity provided by that cheap prick contains 100,000,000 Joules. The Big Burner is rather sophisticated so it's power can be set as to how much energy is supplied in one second by burning the Evil Ether.

Let us assume that this Big Burner, and the Evil Ether are 70% efficient, because God could not provide a better, 100% efficient burner for Hell, being the cheap prick that He is.

Now, let us assume that the power set for the Big Burner is 1000 Watts, that is, 1000 Joules are provided every second. So approximately 1430 Joules of the Evil Ether are spent every second. Which would lead to all the Evil Ether being spent in a day.

This can't happen, as soul burning must go through infinity, but there is one advantage about 'Soul Material', which is that 60% of it burns with 90% efficiency.

Let us assume that the Soul Material for one soul contains 2000 Joules, 60% of which is 1200 Joules, 90% those 1200 would be 1080 Joules. In short, each burnt soul provides an additional 1080 Joules for additional burning (the rest is spent in loud shrieks and curses).

Let us assume that for a soul to burn efficiently, it must be provided 500 Joules by the Big Burner, or other burning souls. So the output per soul would be 580 Joules.

Let us assume that soul burning taks one second.

Based on my assumptions, I conclude that Hell is exothermic, but I must move forward to that 'infinite soul' problem.

Based on my assumptions I can derive a forumla for energy supplied per second.

Energy Supplied by Hell = Energy Supplied by Big Burner + Energy Supplied by Souls

Energy Supplied by Hell = (Energy Supplied by Big Burner - (Number of Souls * 500)) + (Number of Souls * 580)

Hell Power = (Total Burner Power - Soul Burning Input) + Soul Burning Output

Hell Power = (1000 Watts - Soul Burning Input) + Soul Burning Output

As it takes 500 Watts to burn a soul, then the maximum Soul Burning Input is 1000 Watts, hence providing for two souls to be burnt each second.

Hell Power = (1000 Watts - 1000 Watts) + (580 * 2)

Hell Power = 1160 Watts

However, this is only the initial Hell Power, as the 1160 can be used to burn more than two souls, and Hell Power is not constant.

1160/500 = 2.32 Souls.

The formula can best be expressed as:

Total Hell Power = Initial Power + Soul Burning Output

Initial Power is used up burning the maximum amount of souls, so it's always going to amount to 0. In this case it equals 1160 - 1160 = 0.

So THP = SBO

SBO = S * W

Where:

SBO = Soul Burning Output
S = Number of Souls
W = Wilhelm's Constant = 580 Watts

In this case: THP = 580 * 2.32 = 1345.6

Hell Power will continue to increase as each soul is burnt.

In conclusion, Hell is infinitely exothermic.


Note: after doing this I notice that my math is a bit faulty, but I bet that cheap prick God can fix Maths to work in order for Hell to be self-sufficient.

[Wilhelm]

Glinert, care to correct or expand on my theory?

[Todd D.]

Hell exothermic or endothermic, this open question, discuss.

This is an old internet joke that, ironically enough, my priest sent to me yesterday and happened to still be in my deleted items box:

The following is an actual question given on a McGill University chemistry mid-term Exam paper:
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 Boyles 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 most people and their 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 Boyles 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.

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.
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. Celine LeBlanc 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.

Ha.
Ha.
Ha.

*groan*

[thror]

OK - the problem with several of these proofs is they assume that there are an infinate number of souls. Even if we say aliens, cats, micro-organisms (excepting dogs of course; they all end up in heaven, the bastards) all can go to hell, assuming that (according to most good science) the universe is only about 12 billion years old, there is still a finite number of souls. And since, in the case of aliens and many micro-organisms their tollerences and environmental constraints could be extremely different from humans - those wierd worm-like-things that live on ocean vents - or thing about gas giant aliens - they would have to have seperate hells, to cater to their individual tortures. So in the hell we as humans are concerned with, it is probably pretty much limited to humans, mammals and any humanoid aliens with similar phisiology.

Just thought I'd throw it out there.

[Just Some Guy]

quite frankly if people honestly believe some deity can create invinately vast fields of burning sulphur and pits of fire etc, then it would be a mere cocktail party trick in comparison to provide an infinate amount of energy for it.

But hey, I prefer to leave my scientific discussions firmly grounded in the realm of reality.