Reactants and Products in an Airbag Inflator
In this activity, you are tasked with designing an airbag for a company that creates airbags for automobiles. You must design the driver’s front airbag for a specific car model so it will protect the driver as effectively as possible. For this car, the airbag must have a volume of 58 liters when fully inflated. To provide an adequate cushion for the driver’s head, the air pressure inside the airbag should be 4.4 psi. This pressure value is in addition to the normal atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi, giving a total absolute pressure of 19.1 psi, which equals 1.30 atmospheres.

Part A
Deploying an airbag in an automobile is a complex process. Identify at least three steps in the process. Refer to your research in part A of task 1 if you need help.

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Part B
One of the main components of an airbag is the gas that fills it. As part of the design process, you need to determine the exact amount of nitrogen that should be produced. Calculate the number of moles of nitrogen required to fill the airbag. Show your work. Assume that the nitrogen produced by the chemical reaction is at a temperature of 495°C and that nitrogen gas behaves like an ideal gas. Use this fact sheet to review the ideal gas law.

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Part C
Recall the balanced chemical equation from part B of task 1:

2NaN3 → 2Na + 3N2.

Calculate the mass of sodium azide required to decompose and produce the number of moles of nitrogen you calculated in part B of this task. Refer to the periodic table to get the atomic weights.

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Part D
What would happen if the amount of sodium azide used was far greater or far less than what you calculated in part C? Describe both cases.

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