Mass of NaN3 required to inflate air bags
Air bags are activated when a severe impact causes a steel ball to compress a spring & electrically ignite a detonator cap. This causes sodium azide(NaN3) to decompose explosively:
2NaN3(s) = 2Na(s) + 3N2(g)
What mass of NaN3(s) must be reacted to inflate an airbag to 70.0 L. at STP?
https://brainmass.com/chemistry/stoichiometry/mass-of-nan3-required-to-inflate-air-bags-17004
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Molecular weight of NaN3 = 23 + 3*14 = 65 grams per mole
<br>1 mole of nitrogen at STP has volume 22.4 liters.
<br>Therefore, 3 moles of nitrogen at ...
Solution Summary
The airbag's inflation system reacts sodium azide (NaN3) with potassium nitrate (KNO3) to produce nitrogen gas. Hot blasts of the nitrogen inflate the airbag, which acts like a cushion between the driver and the impacting solid. This problem talks about the volume of Nitrogen that would be generated when a given quantity of azide dissociates.