What is the half-life of cobalt-59?

5.2714 years
Naturally occurring cobalt (27Co) is composed of 1 stable isotope, 59Co. 28 radioisotopes have been characterized with the most stable beingCo with a half-life of 5.2714 years, 57Co with a half-life of 271.8 days, 56Co with a half-life of 77.27 days, and 58Co with a half-life of 70.86 days.

What is the half-life of cobalt-60?

about 5.3 years
The time required for a radioactive substance to lose 50 percent of its radioactivity by decay is known as the half-life. The half-life of cobalt-60 is about 5.3 years. How are people exposed to cobalt-60?

How do you find the half-life of cobalt-60?

Explanation: The half life is the time taken for the mass of the substance to decrease by a half. In this case, the amount of substance remaining is 20% of the initial amount (0.1 g out of initial 0.5 g). So it would take 2.32 half lives to decay this much, which is 2.32 x 5.2 which is 12.064 years.

What is the decay equation for cobalt-60?

Cobalt-60 is a nuclide that β− decays in the following manner: 60Co → 60Ni + β−+ neutrino.

What are the benefits of cobalt 60?

In addition to its applications in radiation processing, Cobalt-60 is used as a radiation source for medical radiotherapy where it is used in cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells. Cobalt-60 is used as the radiation source in Gamma Knife equipment that enables non-surgical treatment of brain tumours.

What are the dangers of Cobalt-60?

Because it decays by gamma radiation, external exposure to large sources of Co-60 can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness, or death. Most Co-60 that is ingested is excreted in the feces; however, a small amount is absorbed by the liver, kidneys, and bones.

Why is cobalt-60 unstable?

After being placed in an intense radiation field, cobalt 59 is transformed into radioactive cobalt 60. This happens because each nucleus of cobalt 59 absorbs a neutron and becomes unstable. This is the result of its nuclei becoming stable after emitting gamma radiation.

How is Cobalt 60 produced in a nuclear reactor?

By bombarding cobalt 59 with neutrons, in a nuclear reactor, an additional neutron can be captured by the nucleus converting it into cobalt 60. Placing this non-radioactive, Cobalt 59 pellets into a nuclear reactor creates deliberately produced cobalt-60. Over time cobalt-59 absorbs a neutron to become cobalt-60.

What is the atomic number of Cobalt 60?

All isotopes of an element have the same atomic number but different atomic mass. Cobalt mass is 58.993 and the mass of Cobalt isotopes varies from 50u to 73u. Cobalt 60 emits high-intensity gamma rays. The -decayenergy is low and shielded easily while the gamma rays have high energy emission lines around 1.3MeV and are highly penetrating.

Who was the first person to discover Cobalt 60?

Production of Cobalt-60. Radioactive cobalt-60 was discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg and John Livingood at the University of California – Berkeley in the late 1930’s. By bombarding cobalt 59 with neutrons, in a nuclear reactor, an additional neutron can be captured by the nucleus converting it into cobalt 60.

What kind of radiation does Cobalt 60 emit?

reactor the cobalt-60 is double enclosed in stainless steel sealed sources. Cobalt-60 emits Beta and Gamma Rays. Where Beta radiation is present, shielding may be required. Cobalt-60 is unstable and in trying to become stable it emits a beta-particle and two photons of gamma radiation.