[Matt]

Can anyone tell me what the gas law for airbags is? I've narrowed my options down to either Charles Law, Boyle's Law, or Gay-Lusaacs Law. And could you give a brief explanation as to why?

I've finished most of my Chemistry project dealing with Gas Laws (I'm going to be turning it into a poster soon) but I've been stumped on this one thing. Any help would be much appreciated!!

[bakerbg]

I would think that the gas in airbags are like any other gas and any of the three gas laws you listed can be applied depending on what is being considered. But then, what do i know!

[Matt]

Which law would relate the most to airbags though (if I'm making any sense)?

[bakerbg]

What is an airbag? Maybe if you ask us the problem you want to solve for your project we could give you more specific guidance.

[vmelkon]

An airbag contains sodium azide which decomposes to give sodium and nitrogen. The nitrogen expands the bag and I don't know what happens to the sodium. This is similar to having a tank of pressurized gas and you open the valve. The gas expands (increase of volume) and the pressure goes down.

Then again, I imagine that decomposition reaction releases a lot of energy so the sodium and nitrogen would be hot initially. It happens so fast that you can assume that the temperature is constant.

FYI, the nitrogen leaves the bag rather quickly because the bag is just a mesh. Most movies and cartoons show that the airbag remains inflated.