Question

The automobile industry started research on airbags in the 1950's and soon discovered that there were many issues that needed to be addressed in order to develop an effective and reliable airbag system. The bag, for example, must deploy and inflate within 40 milliseconds in order to provided sufficient protection and must also be able to detect the difference between a severe crash and a minor fender-bender. As a result, airbags were not commonly available until the 1980's.

An airbag works through the use of a crash sensor made of a steel ball that slides inside of a smooth bore and which is normally held in place by a permanent magnet. If the car decelerates very rapidly, the ball moves from its position and the inflation process begins.

The gas generator section of the airbag contains a mixture of sodium azide (NaN3), potassium nitrate, and silicon dioxide. In the initial reaction, the inflation process involves the ignition of a pellet of sodium azide, which quickly decomposes into nitrogen gas (N2) and sodium metal. The nitrogen gas is what fills the airbag. However, the sodium metal presents a problem because it is highly reactive and potentially explosive. In a second reaction, the sodium metal reacts with the potassium nitrate present to form potassium oxide, sodium oxide, and additional nitrogen gas. Finally, a third process involves the reaction of the potassium oxide and sodium oxide reacting with the silicon dioxide to produce a stable alkaline glass, Na2K2SiO4.

1) write balanced equations for the three processes that occur during the inflation process.

2) Use stoichiometry to calculate the mass in grams of N2 produced from 135 g of NaN3 gas in the first reaction.

3) How many grams of N2 are produced from 45 g of Na metal in the second reaction?

Answer 1