Page 29 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

 Modern air bags are filled with sodium azide.
Azide: explosive air bags of nitrogen
No gas cylinder lies behind the life-saving air bag. Everything happens in a flash because of nitrogen chemistry. Nitrogen is produced within one-thousandth of a second, far faster than a gas cylinder could release a supply. Nitrogen is also inert, so it will not contribute to a fire.
Sodium azide is a compound of sodium and nitrogen. All azides are shock sensitive, and lead azide is used as a detonator in some explosives.
Sodium azide is used in air bags in motor vehicles, where
it is detonated by an electrical device that is itself triggered by sudden deceleration. Sodium azide decomposes very quickly, releasing nitrogen gas that inflates the air bag.
 The hundreds of oil well fires
started deliberately by the retreating
Iraqi troops during the Gulf War needed
to be extinguished quickly because of the environmental damage that was being created. Most were snuffed out using explosives.
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