Did you know that Rubies and Sapphires are the same mineral (Corundum). They are just named different due to the color. “Pink-Orange” ones are called Padparadscha.
Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) with traces of iron, titanium and chromium.[1] It is a rock-forming mineral. It is one of the naturally clear transparent materials, but can have different colors when impurities are present. Transparent specimens are used as gems, called ruby if red and padparadscha if pink-orange. All other colors are called sapphire, e.g., “green sapphire” for a green specimen.
The name “corundum” is derived from the Tamil word kuruntam (குருந்தம்) meaning “ruby”, and related to Sanskrit kuruvinda.[3]
Because of corundum’s hardness (pure corundum is defined to have 9.0 Mohs), it can scratch almost every other mineral. It is commonly used as an abrasive, on everything from sandpaper to large machines used in machining metals, plastics, and wood. Some emery is a mix of corundum and other substances, and the mix is less abrasive, with an average hardness near 8.0.
In addition to its hardness, corundum is unusual for its density of 4.02 g/cm3, which is very high for a transparent mineral composed of the low atomic mass elements aluminium and oxygen.
Rubies and Sapphires are the same mineral Corundum. They are just named different due to the color. "Pink-Orange" ones are called Padparadscha
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