Cobalt-60 No longer being used? (1 Viewer)

[madboy1125]

My teacher said that cobalt-60 is no longer being used. Is this true?

Thanks
-Madboy1125

 

[strawberrye]

Cobalt-60 is no longer being used for what?

 

[enigma_1]

It doesn't really matter. You can still write it in exams for the POM subtopic because it's still mentioned in textbooks.

 

[Librah]

Cobalt-60 is no longer being used for what?

This.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Is+cobalt-60+still+being+used?. It clearly still has some use if it's still being mentioned, BoS isn't that lost.

 

[anomalousdecay]

Cobalt-60 does decay into Nickel-60 by beta decay, where the Nickel-60 nucleus emits gamma rays. So Cobalt-60 is still a great source of gamma rays.

Although one could argue that you could use Technetium-99m as a gamma ray source, Cobalt-60 has a much longer half-life and so it is a bit easier to work with in certain industrial applications.

 

[snowflakeptical]

From Production of Materials, there's more info for other radioactive isotopes compared to cobalt-60
my info on technetium-99m compared to cobalt-60

 

[SuchSmallHands]

Nope, Cobalt-60 still has plenty of uses in medicine, sterilisation and industry. It's a really easy one to evaluate and it has such a wide range of uses. I don't know where your teacher got the idea from that it's no longer in use, but they're wrong.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

From Production of Materials, there's more info for other radioactive isotopes compared to cobalt-60
my info on technetium-99m compared to cobalt-60

Be careful here though, the syllabus requires you to know about isotopes in medicine and industry. Tc-99m is more of a medical isotope. I'd recommend studying both of the isotopes.

 

[snowflakeptical]

Be careful here though, the syllabus requires you to know about isotopes in medicine and industry. Tc-99m is more of a medical isotope. I'd recommend studying both of the isotopes.

How about strontium-90? I like that more but I can always change to cobalt-60

 

[anomalousdecay]

How about strontium-90? I like that more but I can always change to cobalt-60

"Beta sources are ideal"

Ideal for what? You should change that wording and state what it is ideal for. Simply saying it is a balance of not too penetrating and penetrating a certain amount does not mean it is ideal for some particular use.

Also the use for Strontium-90 that you have put up is a particular use for thin sheet metals. You can also use Cobalt-60 for thicker sheet metals in terms of that use.

A good thing about using Cobalt-60 for this application is that you can test for thin and thick sheet metals. For example, the thin sheet metals might only just block a tiny amount of beta radiation and let most through, whereas a thick metal will block beta radiation and the gamma rays will go through. So this is why I would prefer to say that Cobalt-60 is the better alternative for Strontium-90 in terms of sheet metal manufacturing.

Another industrial use is checking leaks in pipes. I think that can be achieved by Cobalt-60 and Strontium-90 but it just depends on the specifics in the end as to which one is better to use.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

How about strontium-90? I like that more but I can always change to cobalt-60

You can do strontium-90 if you don't like cobalt-60 for some reason (why don't you like it by the way, it's fantastic! If you have a mental block and forget your medical isotope it has medical uses as well as industrial, and there's so much available information on it). Just absolutely make sure you have a medical isotope AND an industrial isotope.

 

[snowflakeptical]

"Beta sources are ideal"

Ideal for what? You should change that wording and state what it is ideal for. Simply saying it is a balance of not too penetrating and penetrating a certain amount does not mean it is ideal for some particular use.

Also the use for Strontium-90 that you have put up is a particular use for thin sheet metals. You can also use Cobalt-60 for thicker sheet metals in terms of that use.

A good thing about using Cobalt-60 for this application is that you can test for thin and thick sheet metals. For example, the thin sheet metals might only just block a tiny amount of beta radiation and let most through, whereas a thick metal will block beta radiation and the gamma rays will go through. So this is why I would prefer to say that Cobalt-60 is the better alternative for Strontium-90 in terms of sheet metal manufacturing.

Another industrial use is checking leaks in pipes. I think that can be achieved by Cobalt-60 and Strontium-90 but it just depends on the specifics in the end as to which one is better to use.

hahahaha I remember when I decided to type this
I know cobalt-60 emits beta and gamma rays so I guess it can monitor sheet production
don't worry no one would want to share my study notes since I can only understand my trigger phrases haha

You can do strontium-90 if you don't like cobalt-60 for some reason (why don't you like it by the way, it's fantastic! If you have a mental block and forget your medical isotope it has medical uses as well as industrial, and there's so much available information on it). Just absolutely make sure you have a medical isotope AND an industrial isotope.

for some reason cobalt-60 from where I got my info usually had medical uses
I'll make a cobalt-60 table of its industrial uses. Cool, how it has both medical and industrial uses

 

[SuchSmallHands]

for some reason cobalt-60 from where I got my info usually had medical uses
I'll make a cobalt-60 table of its industrial uses. Cool, how it has both medical and industrial uses

It is cool, it's actually really useful. I used it primarily as my industrial isotope, but if I'd forgotten my medical one in an exam, or if cobalt-60 had fit the question better, I could easily have used it instead for a specific question on medical isotopes.

 

[anomalousdecay]

In terms of forgetting/whatever, you can always just think of it logically and think out what makes sense given how the isotope decays and given its half life and stuff. It should be simple to logically determine the difference between alpha, beta and gamma radiation if you know that alpha particles are Helium nuclei, being heavy and all, Beta particles are electrons with a certain amount of energy and gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation.