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by stephengillie
5004 days ago
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The panels may have been designed to jettison once they reached a certain pressure differential, or they may be jettisonned by computer. How quickly do engines explode? Is it faster than 2 cars colliding? Computers deploy air bags quickly because electricity travels faster along wires in your car chassis than the car travels into something else. Visualize a bumper with sensors - as the bumper is deformed by a collision, a sensor shifts an electron in the copper wire, and the electron next to it shifts. There's a cascade of shifting electrons along the wire, and it races backwards through the car's body, chased by the destruction of the car as it collides with another object. The cascade of electrons hits the air bag computer, which begins another cascade of electrons to the air bag. The wave of destruction has covered most of the distance to your windshield by now. The air bag deploys as molecules of air rush from their high-pressure canister to fill it. As the bag hits its most pressurized point, your car is coming to a stop as its kinetic energy is combined with energy from the other object. |
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Sidenote about airbags: they have to be folded to fit inside their module, so as it inflates it's also unfolding. In order to make sure it unfolds properly they coat it in a lubricant that can't evaporate – either talcum powder or cornstarch depending on the vehicle.
I learned this only after I scrambled out of the car my sister put in a ditch thinking it was on fire. The best part? It was a diesel car.
Who knows, maybe the engineers consider it a feature because after an accident it sure gets people out of the car quick!