Alumina vs. Aluminum Oxide

Their physical and chemical characteristics.
Their applications, please be as detailed as you can.
Their differences.

Please list 2 to 3 major Alumina distributors/suppliers in the U.S.,
this is not required but it would be good to know.

Aluminium oxide or aluminum oxide is a chemical compound of aluminium
and oxygen with the chemical formula Al2O3. It is also commonly
referred to as alumina in the mining, ceramic, and materials science
communities. So, they are essentially the same thing, called by
different names.

"Alumina" and "aluminum oxide" are the same compound, as you can see
in the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alumina

As for distributors, just perform the following search in Google:
"aluminum oxide" MSDS

This will show pages with "Material Safety Data Sheets," which are all
manufacturers or distributors of this chemical. Some are more
complete, some less. For instance:
http://www.skylighter.com/msds/ALUMINUM%20OXIDE.htm

As for the applications, use this search in Google:
"Aluminum oxide applications"

You will see it's an abrasive used in grinding wheels and stuff.

Regards,

Daniel