An automotive air-bag inflator employs the rapid decomposition of sodium azide ( ) to…
CHEMISTRY · Multi-part · A Level · Chemistry · Amount of substance · Amount of substance
Problem
An automotive air-bag inflator employs the rapid decomposition of sodium azide (NaN3) to generate nitrogen gas. A particular inflator requires 0.250mol of solid NaN3 to function properly, but the storage cartridge currently contains only 8.00g of the compound.
Average atomic masses (amu): Na = 22.99, N = 14.01.
Address the tasks below.
(a) Calculate the molar mass of sodium azide.
(b) Determine the number of moles of sodium azide actually available in the 8.00g cartridge.
(c) Evaluate whether the available amount meets the inflator’s requirement of 0.250mol. Support your conclusion with quantitative evidence.
(d) If the cartridge is deficient, calculate the percentage shortfall relative to the required amount, reporting the value with three significant figures.