The Safety of Airbags Airbags save the lives of many people everyday. Even though they save lives, airbags do cause many injuries. They are not meant to be used as life savers, but as supplemental restraints. A supplemental restraint is
also referred to as the SRS, or Supplemental Inflatable Restraints. It is a
system built in automobiles or vehicles to protect consumers from accidents
that can cause them physical injury. They are usually installed in the dashboards
and doors of cars to protect vehicle occupants from all sides. They are supplemental
restraints because they are not used as “replacements” for seat belts per say,
but they are used to assist them in the protection of passengers. Although airbags are used for protection, they do not completely protect occupants from car accidents if a seat belt is not in use. Without the use of a seat belt, the person subject to the airbag will be injured on impact. A seat belt slows a person down so that the quick speed of the airbag does not have as much of an impact with the quick speed of the person being thrown into the airbag. With some passengers, like people that are short, or young children, the use of a seat belt will not much affect the outcome of their well being if sitting in a seat when an airbag deploys. Airbags are very dangerous for young children because they are so small and do not weigh much, which is why there are warnings placed in places in the car, and it is recommended that children sit in the back seat of a car. Airbags can be dangerous to older, larger people also. Airbags deploy at rapid speeds causing bruises or scratches from the impact.
The design of airbags used for the landings of the rovers on Mars were different than airbags found in cars. They are made with a type of fiber called Vectran. The Vectran was put in layers because that was found to work better than just one single layer. The priority of these airbags were to protect the rovers no matter what happened. http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/mars/mpf/mpfairbags.html |
What's inside an airbag??? NaN3, Na, and K2O are all elements that are used to help inflate airbags.
N2 is a short nickname for the element Nitrogen. In most cases it is described as an odorless, colorless gas. Inhaling Nitrogen or touching it with the skin (as well as the eyes) hasn't been known to cause psychological effects. However, being exposed to liquid nitrogen can cause adverse effects. NaN3 is a short name for Sodium Azide, or Hydrazoic acid. It can be very irritating for the skin and eyes if contact is made. Na is short for Sodium and it is VERY reactive. It can instantly ignite when reacting with water. K2O is short for potassium oxide. Potassium oxide Na2K2SiO4 is a short name for alkaline silicate glass. It is usually the third reaction in an airbag. Airbags when fully inflated can vary from multiple sizes depending on manufacturers. They are generally based on body sizes from kids to adults. |