found on bash; another brilliant/creative exam answer: →[More:]

i grabbed/recopied this one from www.bash.org: dunno if it's urban legend material, and apologies if it's been posted before, but it was too good to pass up.

[lib1790] so, at college there was an extra credit question: "Is hell endothermic or exothermic?"
[lib1790] this is what one kid wrote:

[lib1790] 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 that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
[lib1790] As for souls 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 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.
[lib1790] 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.
[lib1790] So, 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. (i.e., hell is exothermic).
[liv1790] Of course, if hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, than the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over (i.e., hell is endothermic).
[lib1790] So which is it? If we accept the postulate given by Ms. Therese Banyan during my freshman year: "it will be a cold night in hell before I go out with you", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having a relationship with her, the second case cannot be true. Therefore, hell is exothermic.

[lib1790] that kid was the only one who got credit