The choice of chemical ingredients in airbags influences their effectiveness in several ways:
Time: Sodium azide ignites faster than ammonium nitrate, decomposing in under 1/25 sec vs. requiring heating to ignite. Sodium azide's faster ignition leads to quicker airbag inflation.
Volume: Sodium azide produces 3 moles of gas from 2 moles of solid, while ammonium nitrate produces 3 moles of gas from 4 moles of solid to achieve the same total moles of gas. Less starting material is needed for sodium azide to produce the same volume of gas.
Amount used: To produce the same volume of gas, half the amount of solid sodium azide (2 moles) is required compared to ammonium nitrate (4 moles). Less ingredient is needed for sodium azide.
Popped/Not inflated: Highly explosive compounds like nitroglycerin are too shock-sensitive and difficult to control, easily popping the airbag before it fully inflates. Sodium azide and ammonium nitrate can be controlled to properly inflate the airbag.
Enough/Inflated perfectly: Advanced airbags with sensors can determine the optimal amount of each chemical to inflate based on occupant size. Multiple stages of inflation are possible for perfect inflation control and cushioning. Single-stage less controlled explosions may over- or under-inflate the airbag.
Data:
Equation 1: General decomposition equation
Equation 2: Decomposition of sodium azide
Equation 3: Decomposition of ammonium nitrate
Sodium azide → 3 moles gas / 2 moles solid
Ammonium nitrate → 3 moles gas / 4 moles solid
Nitroglycerin → 5 moles gas / 4 moles liquid
In summary, the choice of chemical impacts how quickly, how much, and how controllably the airbag inflates. Sodium azide and ammonium nitrate can be optimized and controlled, while nitroglycerin is too volatile. Less material is needed for faster-acting sodium azide. Advanced sensors enable perfectly inflating multistage airbags regardless of the chemical mixture. The data and equations show the mole ratios for each chemical decomposition.
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