Demonstration of Cobalt Activity

Equipment

Stage, camera holder, source holder, cobalt-60, Minipix-EDU

Procedure

1. Launch the Pixet Basic software and modify settings to the following:
   1. Min Level: 0
   2. Max Level: 50
   3. Measurement Mode: Tracking
   4. Frames: 100
   5. Exposure: 1 s
   6. Sum: uncheck
   7. Color Map: Hot
2. Mount the MiniPix EDU camera and the holder with cobalt on the stage.
3. Keep the camera and the source approximately 2 cm away and click on the play button.

Results

1. We observe a combination of beta and gamma radiation as shown in figure 1.
   
   
   Figure 1. The tracks of beta and gamma radiation from Co-60 after 100 seconds of exposure
   
   
2. In rare cases, sometimes the background radiation might result in some alpha particles.

Conclusion

1. The beta particles, as discussed earlier, have a range of energy from a few keV to hundreds of keV.
2. The energy of small tracks of gamma particles usually does not exceed 20 keV.