Some Warmer Temperatures from Heaven and Hell

[XLFD]

If you're reading this, you made it through the latest polar vortex this winter and deserve some warm temperatures.  The editorial board here at the Ludington Torch has decided to turn the heat up dramatically by discussing the temperatures of heaven and hell while jack frost uses his crystal paints on your window.  The Ludington Torch has featured flames along both side margins for over four years and we are continually finding new ways to add fuel to the flames, so feel free to figure out what the temperature is here while reading how the Science Magpie article back in 1972 revealed that Hell is cooler than heaven:

But this was an unsatisfactory result as the traditional views of heaven is a perfect 72 degrees and hell being a cauldron of heat where your flesh continually melts off your bones.  It took Dr. Tim Healey, a nuclear engineer a bit of insight to conclude that this prior proof was in error primarily because it failed to take into account the increased pressure differences in hell due to all the compacted bodies and souls.

The math formula and science references is included for your convenience, but even if you don't understand exactly what's going on, you have a qualified engineer using scripture and nuclear physics interchangeably, so he is obviously an expert:

A Refutation of the Proof that Heaven is Hotter than Hell

~~~ Dr. Tim Healey, F. R. C. R.; M. I. Nuc. E.

In Applied Optics (1972, 11 A14) there appeared a calculation of the respective temperatures of Heaven and Hell. That of Heaven was computed by substituting the values given in Isaiah 30 26 [1] in the Stefan-Boltzman radiation law, so that (H/E)4 = 50, where E, the absolute temperature of the Earth, is 300^oK, whence the temperature of Heaven, H, is 798^oK or 525^oC. This is hard to find fault with.

The assessment of the temperature of Hell stands, I suggest, on less firm ground.  As authority we use the data provided in Revelations 21 8 [2], so that the temperature of Hell seems to be 444.6^oC--the temperature at which liquid sulfur is in equilibrium with its vapor-a temperature indeed which is sufficiently reliable to be used in the secondary calibration of pyrometers.

Now this last reckoning fails to follow the argument through. 444.6^oC is the temperature at which liquid sulfur is in equilibrium with its vapor at normal atmospheric pressure. Have we any data as to the pressure likely to be found in Hell?

The answer is "Yes". A nineteenth century mathematician has already provided the groundwork for Us [3] and we may feel confident that by the year 2000 the total number of the damned will be at least 29,422,641,251,519,917,000 souls. Yet the area of the valley of Gehinnom [4] is only 7,000,000 square meters.

We can now apply these figures in the Ideal Gas Equation to calculate what the pressure will be in the valley of Gehinnom. Since surely some souls must have been damned since 1877 [5], the pressure can only have increased since these calculations were made and the equilibrium point on the phase diagram of sulfur must have shifted still further, so that if we can show that at a temperature of 525^oC sulfur would still be liquid at the pressure calculated (which is a minimum value, remember). Hell (Gehinnom) is now cooler than Heaven.

Certain corrections must be applied first, however.

1. Neiht based his calculation on a date of creation of 1658 + 2326 - 1877 = 2107 BC (minimum). Counting generations in the Bible gives a date for the Creation of 4004 BC. However, atomic dating has shown that Olduvai man is at least 2 × 106 years old [6].
2. We should use a Fibonacci series for the expansion, not a simple doubling series. [7] The ancient Jewish laws against inbreeding also act in the same direction. [8]
3. By a fortunate coincidence, the effects of 1 and 2 cancel each other exactly. [9]
4. The human body is not an ideal gas, but
5. A good deal of it is gaseous at 525^oC, and in any case,
6. It could well be that at very great pressures the external pressure may well exceed the pressure of electromagnetic repulsion, when different "gas" laws would apply. This merely explains how the Lord works in fitting so large a number of damned souls into so small a space [10] and it need not be quantitative.

In the calculation the following assumptions are made:

1. The average height can be taken as one meter. This seems a fair figure between the newborn babe and the full-grown man.
2. The average space needed is about 30 cm × 20 cm. It seems unlikely that any closer packing could be achieved. Neiht uses a figure of 1/20 cubic meters per person, which is nearly identical with my independent assessment. Mine allows a neat cancellation, later.
3. I have assumed that not more than two layers of damned persons can be accommodated, since otherwise those in the middle layers would escape the full rigors of Hell.

So that,

The volume available in Gehenna is

60 × 106 × 2 m3

and the original volume of the damned is

0.06 × 29.422641 × 1018m3

Then, at constant temperature (which we assume, taking equilibrium)

P1V1 = P2V2 or P2 = P1V1/V2

Substituting,

P2 = [29 × 6 × 1016] / [2 × 6 × 107] = 14.5 × 109 atmospheres

(1)

Now let us see what pressure is needed to liquefy sulfur vapour at 525^oC.  We have, using the Clausius-Cleypeyron equation in its integrated form,

Log P = 7.43287 - 3268.2 / T

where P = pressure in mm Hg and T = the elevated boiling point in ^oK, so that

Log P = 7.43287 - (3268.2/798) = 3.3373813

whence,

P = 2174.607 mm Hg = 2.86 atmospheres

(2)

(1) is so much greater than (2) that Revelations 21 8 indicates a temperature very considerably higher than 525^oC.

Thus, Hell is hotter than Heaven (which remains deucedly hot).

References

1. "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days..." The light of the moon is negligible in comparison with that of the sun.
2. "...the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death".
3. A Mathematical Proof of the Non-Existence of Hell from the writings of the free-thinker Neiht, born in Brussels, 1877. "The area of the valley of Jehoshaphat is 60,000,000 sq. ms. ... Supposing that each race originated with one couple only, one has five couples or ten people, and applying to them the principle of compound interest, up to the Flood there were 9,289,000 births in 1,658 years. Since the Flood up to our epoch 2,326 years have passed, during which, if only five couples survived, they would have produced 2,213,867,610,000 children. If these calculations are extended up to the year 2000, the resulting number is 34,326,414,259,675,172,000 which, together with the 9,289,000, makes 34,326,414,259,684,461,000 offspring. If one concedes, charitably, that all papists are saved, their number today being 1/7th of the population of the earth, that of the damned would be made up of those born before the Flood plus those born since the Flood up to the year 2000 minus the 117th of those born since the year 44, that of the birth of Christ: this number is 4,903,773,008,164,544,000, and the total of damned would be 29,422,641,251,519,917,000.

"The mean cubic area between a new-born infant and an adult is about 1/20th metre; the bulk of the damned above is equal to the mass of a sphere of radius 705,504 metres; that of the earth is 6,366,200 metres.       

"If one puts back the origin of man, following certain German naturalists, to 80,000 years, the number of damned would form a cube three times the size of the earth.       

"Now, how does one assemble the 34,326,414,260 millions risen on a surface of 60,000,000 sq. metres to judge them and how does one sink this mass of damned, through all manner of rock, to a depth of 5,660,660 metres?"    

• The valley of Jehoshaphat is the Gehenna of the Jews (Jehennam in the Koran)-the place of eternal torment. The word is derived from Gehinnom = the valley of Hinnom where sacrifices were offered to Moloch (2 Corinthians 33 6) (= Adremmelech-the God of Sepharvaim). In later times, all manner of refuse was dumped there and fires were constantly maintained to consume it. The sulfurous stench and the fire was the original of the Christian concept of Hell. (The estimate of Nieht of Gehenna's area 60 × 106 sq. m. is wrong, according to measurements taken on the spot by the Editors).
• e.g. Dzhugashvili, Losif and DeSalvo, Albert H.
• Curtis G. H. and Evemden, J. F. in Nuclear Clocks USAEC Pp 40-41.
• Leonardo da Pisa Liber Abaci 1202 (Out of print).
• Leviticus 18 6 et seq.
• Westfall, R. S. Newton and the Fudge Factor. Science 1973 751 -758.
• "In my father's house are many mansions: If it were so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14 2. Also, "Those things which are impossible with men, are possible with God" - Luke 18 27, and "...with God all things are possible." Matthew 19 26.

And the issue stood for awhile, but then a variation on the temperature of heaven and hell came out in popular literature sometime during the 1990s, an urban legend about a physics/engineering professor giving out an extra credit question on an exam concerning thermodynamics asking about whether the infernal regions gave out heat (exothermic) or took in heat (endothermic).  The result made for entertaining reading, but the story was proved wrong by the myth-busting website Scopes.com, which is linked to at the end.  Many will obviously notice something is up when a college physics exam features any reference to religion (you should also note it is wrongly titled as referencing 'heaven').

But as with most urban legends, they can easily be elaborated and improved on as time goes by.  The most recent incarnation, making the internet rounds dramatically at the beginning of this cool winter we are having, puts in more specifics to somehow validate and flesh out the story, shows that hell is exothermic, and introduces a woman into the picture as experimental proof, but it is nevertheless a fabrication: 

Is hell exothermic or  endothermic?

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 is 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 mass.  If they do, then a mole of souls can also have 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 the 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 then 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 in the class.

http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/hell.asp

[Willy]

Reading this discussion made me dizzy and also made me realize how the human brain can run away with delusional ideology and consider it rational reasoning. Of course all of this conjecturing is based on questionable sources dealing with mystical characters who reside in a land of fantasy. Either someone was truly curious and was trying to prove an unprovable theory or they were just pulling everyone's leg.

I love that chart at the top of the page.