Is glass powder the same as sand?

Glass Powder is glass that has been ground down into powder.

Glass starts it's life as sand, is mixed with a fixed alkali such as Soda, Pearlash, or Borax, and a metallic oxide is often added. It is then ground down into a fine sand-mix powder, and melted into a viscous, or semi liquid state known as frit. Frit is pounded, pressed, or blown into the final glass product.

For glass powder, the waste product such as left over frit, or glass products that have been broken and are no longer useful, the glass is ground down into powder, and made into beads. Glass powder is much finer than sand, and has the properties of the Borax and oxides that were mixed into the original glass product.