Crookesite Crookesite Crookesite is a selenide mineral composed of copper and selenium with variable thallium and silver. Its chemical formula is reported either as Cu(Tl,Ag)Se or (Cu,Tl,Ag)Se. It is formed by precipitation from hydrothermal fluids, and contains by mass: 16.3% Tl, 47.3% Cu, 2.9% Ag, and 33.6% Se. Crookesite is an opaque, bluish grey to pink toned brown metallic mineral crystallizing in the tetragonal system. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3 and a specific gravity of 6.9. It was discovered in 1866 in Skrikerum, Sweden and named for Sir William Crookes (1832–1919), the discoverer of the element thallium.
Chemical element Chemical element A chemical element is a species of atoms having the same number of protons in their atomic nuclei (that is, the same atomic number, or "Z"). For example, the atomic number of oxygen is 8, so the element oxygen consists of all atoms which have exactly 8 protons. 118 elements have been identified, of which the first 94 occur naturally on Earth with the remaining 24 being synthetic elements. There are 80 elements that have at least one stable isotope and 38 that have exclusively radionuclides, which decay over time into other elements. Iron is the most abundant