A formula describing the percentage depth dose curve for ⁶⁰Co γ beams is theoretically developed. The formula only needs a few data determined by measuring directly in water phantom and can be used to calculate the whole set of percentage depth dose (PDD) and tissuse air ratios (TAR) for the wide range of SSD (from 20cm to 100cm), field size (from 4cm × 4cm to 20cm × 20cm) and depth (from d_m to 30cm). The data calculated by the formula fits very well to the data currently used in clinics with the maximum error less than 1% and probable error of about 0.1%-0.3%. Using this formula can overcome the time-exhausting work in measurement of PDD and TAR.