PLOSIVES  .) The explosive

cordite is adopted in the British service; it derives the name from its appearance as cord in short lengths, the composition being squeezed in a viscous state through the hole in a die, and the cordite is designated in size by the number ' of hundredths of an inch in the diameter of the hole . Thus the cordite, size 30, of the range table has been squeezed through a hole 0.30 in. diameter . The thermochemical properties of the constituents of an explosive will assign an upper limit to the volume, temperature and pressure of the gas produced by the combustion; but much experiment is required in addition . Sir Andrew Noble has published some of his results in the Phil . Trans., 1905–1906 and following years .