Roughly, generally, or most of the time, how many grains of black powder are there in one cubic centimeter?
Paladin ( ) UK
I'll try again because this is important.
If you are talking about weight then it primarily depends upon the powder size. Fg is larger and has a certain amount of air space in a 1.0 cc measure dictated by the shape, FFFg will have less air space and therefore the same volume will weigh more.
This is the chart that Lee provides with their dippers:
http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt358/Mako_CAS/Odds%20and%20Ends/1cc.pngIt is obviously a generalization for the weights because different manufacturer's powders will have different weights per Lee Dipper (more on that later).
Look at it this way, you have seen the same situation with other materials. If you take a clear drinking glass, fill it with pebbles and weigh it the combined weight will be less than the same glass filled with smaller pebbles of the same type. To take it even further, think of how much fine sand you could add to the glass and shake it down even after it was "full" of coarse pebbles. That's because the pebbles always leave air spaces in the glass. The same is true for coarser Black Powder.
There are differences in the production and milling techniques between the different manufacturers. Even though there is a mesh size standard which determines the grain size of the powder you can imagine that the shape of the grain will make a difference in how it will fill a volume. From the above example you can imagine rough rock leaving more air space in a glass than smooth river stone or pebbles. That is one of the reasons there are differences in the weight by volume of the same marked grain size between manufacturers. The other reason is the final density of the powder which varies because of charcoal density, the "caking" operation (that's where they formed into cakes and the water is pressed out before it is dried and broken up in to granular form) and sometimes the milling of the sulfur and potassium nitrate before the mixing.
On the other hand if you are talking about the volumetric measure called a grain I can tell you exactly how many grains are in a cubic centimeter because there is a volumetric measure called a grain. Everyone knows that there is a volumetric measure called an ounce as well as a unit of weight called an ounce. Water is used as the standard to determine volume and weight. This is actually true in the metric system as well. One ounce of volume equals one ounce of weight. Being British you may have heard the ditty, "The Pint's a Pound the world around" that used to be taught in school. So just like the ounce, a grain uses water to determine the volume. A grain volume of water weighs exactly one grain by weight.
To answer your question in terms of volume, one cubic centimeter through conversion is equal to 15.43 grains of volume. If you want to check the math then use the weight of water for your calculation. In the metric system 1cc of water weighs exactly 1 gram. 1 gram is equal to 15.432358347 grains of weight (1/7000 of a lb.). So a one CC volumetric measure holds 15.43 gr of water which is as we said 15.43 grains volume.
So Paladin, just for grins, if you walked into your local pub and asked them to draw a pint for you and the guy behind the bar asked you how much that weighed you'd think he was daft. You might also think he was trying to confuse or cheat you and not give you an Imperial Pint but an American pint. You would demand your full 568ml (cc) of beer instead of the 473ml (cc) that would be accepted elsewhere.
Being the suspicious (and thirsty) man you are
then you would want to check the glasses in that pub, so the next time you would visit you would bring your scale with you. You would ask for a "pint" glass of water before you ordered your beer. you would then weigh the entire glass with water on your scale, record the weight and then proceed to water the plants with the contents of the glass. You would then weigh the glass alone and if there wasn't at least a 568 gram difference in weight you would know you were being hoodwinked.
Your friend,
Mako