Gamma-Ray Source (Co-60)
Product Code : EL-AS-11129
Last updated: 6 October 2026
Quick answer: A single sealed cobalt-60 gamma-ray source embedded in colour-coded clear epoxy, marked with the element and isotope, with a half-life of 5.27 years. No activity level is published. Radioactive sources are regulated: confirm the authorisation you need, and obtain the source certificate, before purchase or import.
This sealed source is the gamma counterpart to the strontium-90 beta source in this family. Used together they let a class demonstrate the central practical fact about shielding: gamma rays are far more difficult to stop than beta particles, so the same absorber that blocks one passes the other.
The listing publishes the construction and the isotope. The source consists of one gamma-ray emitter embedded in colour-coded clear epoxy that seals the radioactivity inside, with the element and isotope marked on the disk. The published specifications are a half-life of 5.27 years and gamma radiation.
The 5.27 year half-life has a practical consequence worth planning for: the source loses roughly half its activity every five years, so one bought today will give noticeably weaker counts within the life of a syllabus and will need replacing far sooner than the strontium-90 source. Ask what count rate it is specified to give with your detector, and over what period it remains useful.
The manufacturer describes the source as safe for classroom use. That is recorded as a manufacturer statement and not repeated as a finding, because the listing publishes no activity level, and activity is what determines dose rate. Gamma radiation is also the more penetrating of the two, so shielding and distance matter more here than for the beta source.
Radioactive material is regulated in India and in essentially every export market, including teaching sources. Before buying or importing, establish with your institution and the relevant national regulator what authorisation, registration or exemption applies to a source of this isotope and activity, and require from the supplier the activity, the encapsulation details, the sealed-source certificate, the leak-test documentation and the end-of-life disposal route.
Important: no activity level is published for this source anywhere on the listing, and activity determines dose rate. The description of the source as safe for classroom use is reproduced as a manufacturer statement only. Obtain the activity, the sealed-source certificate and leak-test documentation, and confirm the regulatory authorisation required in your jurisdiction, before purchase, import or use.
Technical specifications
Specification | As published |
Product type | Sealed gamma-ray demonstration source, cobalt-60 |
Contents | One sealed gamma-ray source |
Isotope | Cobalt-60 (Co-60) |
Type of radiation | Gamma |
Half-life | 5.27 years |
Encapsulation | Embedded in colour-coded clear epoxy, sealing the radioactivity inside |
Marking | Element and isotope marked on the disk |
Activity | Not published on this listing |
Manufacturer statement | Described by the manufacturer as safe for classroom use |
Supplied from | Ambala, Haryana, India |
The activity level is not published, and without it no dose assessment is possible. No sealed-source certificate, encapsulation standard or leak-test record is referenced. Note the 5.27 year half-life: activity falls by about half every five years, which affects the useful service life. Radioactive sources are regulated for possession, use, import and disposal: confirm the authorisation required in your jurisdiction and obtain the full source documentation in writing before committing to a purchase.
Range and ordering
This item belongs to the Atomic Structure family within Biotechnology Equipment and Labware, part of the Biotechnology range. Packaged teaching kits are listed under Biotechnology Kits. Bulk, tender and OEM quantities are handled through lab tenders and OEM orders; use the contact page to request a quotation or any specification noted above.