The half-life of Cobalt-60 is about 5.27 years. This means that in this time, half of the original amount of Cobalt-60 will have decayed into other elements. It is commonly used in medical and industrial applications due to its radioactive properties.
No, cobalt-60 is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt. It is produced by bombarding stable cobalt-59 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.
Cobalt-60 decay to nickel-60:Co-60------------Ni-60 + 1 electron + 1 neutrino + gamma rays
The only natural isotope of Cobalt is Cobalt-59.
Since cobalt has an atomic number of 27, any isotope of it contains 27 protons and 27 electrons per atom. The isotope with mass number 60 contains (60 - 27) or 33 neutrons per atom.
The half-life of Cobalt-60 is about 5.27 years. This means that in this time, half of the original amount of Cobalt-60 will have decayed into other elements. It is commonly used in medical and industrial applications due to its radioactive properties.
Cobalt-60 has an 1/2 life of 5.24 years
After 14 years, 1/16th of the original amount of cobalt-60 will remain, because 14 years is equivalent to 2.64 half-lives of cobalt-60 (14 years / 5.3 years/half-life). Each half-life reduces the amount of cobalt-60 by half, so after 2.64 half-lives, the original amount will be reduced to 1/2^2.64 which is approximately 1/16th.
One quarter-Apex
The half life of Cobalt-60 is 5.27 years, so 32 years is almost exactly six half lives. (Which is probably why the question is put this way). Every half life the activity halves, so after six half lives it is reduced by a factor 26, which is 64. Therefore the activity after six half lives is 1/64 of the original level, or 1.56 percent.
I would not use Co-60 for shielding. Did you mean, "What is the half value layer for some shielding (XXXXXXXX) using Co-60 as a source of gamma ray energy?
When cobalt-60 emits a gamma ray, it remains as cobalt-60. The emission of a gamma ray does not change the identity of the cobalt-60 isotope.
Cobalt-60 has a half-life of approximately 5.27 years, meaning that after this period, half of the original amount will have decayed. After 14 years, which is about 2.65 half-lives, the remaining amount can be calculated using the formula: remaining amount = original amount × (1/2)^(time/half-life). Therefore, after 14 years, approximately 1/6 of the original amount of cobalt-60 will remain.
After 1 year, 50% of the original amount of cobalt-60 will remain. This means that 50% will decay and 50% will be left. After 4 years, 6.25% of the original amount (50% of 50%) of cobalt-60 will remain.
To calculate the remaining amount of cobalt-60 after 21.2 years, we can use the half-life formula. Since the half-life is 5.3 years, we find the number of half-lives in 21.2 years by dividing 21.2 by 5.3, which is approximately 4.0 half-lives. After 4 half-lives, the remaining amount can be calculated as (10.0 , \text{g} \times \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^4 = 10.0 , \text{g} \times \frac{1}{16} = 0.625 , \text{g}). Thus, 0.625 g of cobalt-60 will remain after 21.2 years.
6 seconds
Cobalt-60, or Co-60 (and sometimes 60Co), is an unstable isotope of cobalt. It is radioactive. Co-60 is made by a process called activation. In activation, a cobalt (cobalt-59) shape (a "slug" or "pellet") is lowered into an operating nuclear reactor and exposed to the neutron flux. The cobalt-59 will absorb a neutron and become cobalt-60, and the sample (now called a source) is then withdrawn from the reactor and put into a heavily shielded casket for storage. Once our source is secured, it is assigned a special Nuclear Regulatory Commission tracking number. This source was licensed before it was made, and it will be continuously tracked throughout its long, long life. The source is used for any one of a number of things, and a link is provided to a question on that subject. The Co-60 has a half life of 5.27 years, and as it decays to nickel-60, or Ni-60 (60Ni), it goes through a three-step decay process and is dangerously radioactive throughout the time it decays. Remember that the 5.27 year half life means that half the sample has decayed in 5.27 years. There is still a lot around, and half of the remaining half decays in another 5.27 years - still leaving a lot remaining. Depending on the size of the originally activated sample, it can take a long time for the level of radioactivity to go down to anything near a "low" level. It can take hundreds or thousands of years for the sample to decay to the point where it can be removed from storage in a heavily shielded container.