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Written by Celia Berrell

A small steel ball
in a short smooth tube
held in place by a spring,
is the kind of switch
that works in a twitch
and starts an exploding thing.

When cars go crash
those small balls bash
and connect with a circuit so fast,
that sodium azide
explodes as it’s fried
and makes lots of nitrogen gas.

This blows up a bag
with little time-lag
to cushion our torso and face,
while seatbelts restrain
our bodies and brains
from smashing into the wrong place.

Hooray for explosions
that curtail our motions
if ever we crash in those cars.
So should we deduce
that a similar use
could help with a landing on Mars?

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If you’re after more science poems for kids, you’ll find one in each issue of Double Helix magazine!