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How does an airbag inflate?

Updated: 12/18/2022
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11y ago

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A number of different methods are used see wikipedia article "Airbag" for a pretty full account. The most intersting from a chemistry point of view is the original method which used sodium azide, Na3N which was detonated to produce sodium and nitrogen gas:

2 NaN3 → 2Na + 3 N2

The sodium metal was mopped up by silica, SiO2, to produce silcates.

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Q: How does an airbag inflate?
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What chemical makes an airbag inflate?

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.


Why does an airbag inflate?

Gas is created, increasing n; and The added gas increases the pressure and then the volume of the airbag. for my fellow cheaters out there


What is inside a airbag when deployed?

The airbag contains sodium azide (NaN3) with potassium nitrate (KNO3) to produce nitrogen gas. Hot blasts of the nitrogen inflate the airbag.


How many seconds does an airbag take to inflate?

Once activated, the air bag will fully inflate in 1/25 of a second or 40mil seconds.


In a 2001 Suburban what does the dash Air Bag Light ON mean?

it means that if you crash the airbag will inflate. if it is off the airbag will not deploy Wrong Its the other way around Light on means there is a system fault and the computer has disarmed the air bag Light off means system is armed and will inflate to protect you in an accident


What makes an air bag inflate?

The mechanism for the airbag contains sodium azide (NaN3). In the event of an accident, the sodium azide rapidly decomposes into sodium metal and nitrogen gas. The latter fills the airbag.


How to shut off the airbag for a 1999 ford windstar?

It's never recommended to work on the airbag system unless you are a qualified technician, but if you want to disable the airbag, remove the module and unplug it, then reinstall the module. However, be aware that the airbag will not inflate in case of an accident, and you must notify any subsequent owners of this issue.


How many inches should you sit from the air bag?

The safe distance is about 10 inches. This is to allow the airbag to inflate properly which helps to protect you from greater injury.


Can you put a 1988 instrument cluster into a 1991 Firebird?

Physically it will fit in but the 91 had more indicator lights on it than the 88 did, the inflate/reset light for example for the airbag


Does and air bag in an automobile use hydraulics and pneumatics?

Niether. Although it is possible to inflate an airbag with pneumatics, most car airbags are actually inflated by an explosive charge called sodium azide, which is even faster than pneumatics. Airbags only have a fraction of a second to inflate, which is why a sodium azide explosive charge is used. Inflating an airbag hydraulically would be very bad - hydraulic fluid is incompressible, and thus can't absorb any crash energy. It would probably just burst even if you could inflate it quickly enough!


How is airbag inflated?

The sensor is the device that tells the bag to inflate. Inflation happens when there is a collision force equal to running into a brick wall at 10 to 15 miles per hour (16 to 24 km per hour). A mechanical switch is flipped when there is a mass shift that closes an electrical contact, telling the sensors that a crash has occurred. The sensors receive information from an accelerometer built into a microchip.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.


How does sodium azide work in air bags?

The airbags inflation system reacts sodium azide with potassium nitrate to produce nitrogen gas. Hotblast of the nitrogen gas inflate the airbag.