Question

Automotive air bags inflate when sodium azide, NaN3, decomposes explosively to its constituent elements. How many moles of nitrogen gas are produced by the decomposition of 3.55 mol of sodium azide?

Answer 1

2.29 g of N2

Step-by-step explanation:

We have to start with the chemical reaction:

`NaN_3~->~Na~+~N_2`

The next step is to balance the reaction:

`2NaN_3~->~2Na~+~3N_2`

We can continue with the mol calculation using the molar mass of

`NaN_3` (65 g/mol), so:

`3.55~g~NaN_3(1~mol~NaN_3)/(65~g~NaN_3)=0.054~mol~NaN_3`

Now, with the molar ratio between
`NaN_3` and
`N_2` we can calculate the moles of
`N_2` (2:3), so:

`0.054~mol~NaN_3(3~mol~N_2)/(2~mol~NaN_3)=0.0819~mol~N_2`

With the molar mass of
`N_2` we can calculate the grams:

`0.0819~mol~N_2=(1~mol~N_2)/(28~g~N_2)=2.29~g~N_2`

I hope it helps!