What is Sapphire?
{{Infobox mineral | name = Sapphire | category = Oxide mineral | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = Logan Sapphire, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC.jpg | imagesize = | caption = The 422.99-[[Carat (mass)|carat]] [[Logan sapphire]] | formula = [[aluminium oxide]], [[aluminium|Al]]<sub>2</sub>[[oxygen|O]]<sub>3</sub> | molweight = | color = Every color except for red – which is called a [[ruby]] – or pinkish-orange (the padparadscha) | habit = massive and granular | system = [[Trigonal]] <br/>Symbol ({{overline|3}}2/m) <br/>Space Group: R{{overline|3}}c | twinning = | cleavage = none | fracture = conchoidal, splintery | mohs = 9.0 | luster = vitreous | refractive = n<sub>ω</sub>=1.768–1.772 <br/>n<sub>ε</sub>=1.760–1.763, <br/>[[Birefringence]] 0.008 | opticalprop = [[Abbe number]] 72.2 | pleochroism = Strong | streak = white | gravity = 3.95–4.03 | density = | melt = 2030–2050 °C | fusibility = infusible | diagnostic = | solubility = Insoluble | diaphaneity = | other = [[coefficient of thermal expansion]] (5.0–6.6)×10<sup>−6</sup>/K }} '''Sapphire''' is a type of the mineral [[corundum]], an [[aluminium]] [[oxide]] (Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>). Sapphires are the same as [[ruby|rubies]], except that they are not red. Sapphire can be found [[mining|in the ground]] or it can be made in large crystal. Blue sapphires are the most famous kind, but they can be many different colors, like [[amber (color)|amber]] and [[Orange (color)|orange]]. Sapphires have a long history. [[Tradition]] says that the tablets of the [[Ten Commandments]] were made of sapphire, so strong a hammer could not break them, and would break instead if it hit them. The [[Ancient history|ancient]] [[Persia]]ns believed that the earth sat on a big sapphire and that the big sapphire made the sky blue. A lot of ancient people thought rubies made people calm down, as well as cure their bruises. Sapphires have been used by [[Royal famil