Constituent
Name
Corundum
IMA name
Corundum
Class
non-silicate mineral
Compound type
oxide-hydroxide
Relevance
main - major
Arrangement
single phase
Mass fraction
1.0
Formula
$Al_2O_3$
Chemical formula
Al2O3
Elemental formula
Al1.982 O3 Cr0.0013 Fe0.004
Isotope mixture type
terrestrial abundance
  Formula Name Family Number min-max Isotope mole fraction State Relevance
$Al$ Aluminium element 1.982 1.0 constituent element main
$O$ Oxygen element 3 1.0 constituent element main
$Cr$ Chromium element 0.0013 1.0 constituent element replacement
$Fe$ Iron element 0.004 1.0 constituent element replacement
Composition comments
Common impurities: Cr, Fe, V, Ti
Oxides
Formula $Fe_{2}O_{3}$ $SiO_{2}$ $TiO_{2}$ $Al_{2}O_{3}$ $Cr_{2}O_{3}$ $SrO$ $ZnO$
Mass fraction (%) 0.31 0.02 0.03 99.84 0.97 0.01 0.03

Strunz

Class
oxides - hydroxides - arsenites (04)
Division
metal:oxygen = 2:3, 3:5, and similar (04.C)
Family
with medium-sized cations (04.CB)
Code
04.CB.05

Dana

Major class
oxides and hydroxides (III)
Class
simple oxides (04)
Type
with a cation charge of 3+ (A+++2O3) (04.03)
Group
Corundum-Hematite group (Rhombohedral: R-3c) (04.03.01)
Code
04.03.01.01
Phase type
crystalline
Crystal system
trigonal
Crystal class
ditrigonal-scalenohedral
Crystal class symbol
-3m (D3d)
Crystal spacegroup
R-3c
Molar mass
101.21 $g/mol$
Density
4 - 4.1 $g/cm^3$
Refringence type
uniaxial
Refringence sign
negative
Birefringence
0.008
Refraction index $n_{\alpha}$
1.767 - 1.772
Refraction index $n_{\beta}$
1.759 - 1.763
Color
colorless, blue, red, pink, yellow, gray, brown
Diaphaneity
transparent to translucent
Luster
vitreous