World Cup not solid gold....

[Tatterdemalion]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/10301713.stm

Professor says World Cup trophy cannot be solid gold
Page last updated at 15:34 GMT, Saturday, 12 June 2010 16:34 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Model Naomi Campbell recently posed with the trophy in Paris A British chemistry professor has calculated that if the World Cup trophy was really solid gold it would be too heavy for footballers to lift.

Martyn Poliakoff of Nottingham University estimates that a solid gold trophy of its size - 36cm (14 in) high - would weigh at least 70kg (154lb).

He concludes that the trophy, or at least part of it, must be hollow.

Fifa insisted that the metal part of the current trophy, which dates back to 1974, was "solid gold".

It told the BBC News website the prize weighed 6.175kg, including 4.9kg of "solid 18-carat gold" and two layers of the semi-precious stone malachite.

Nobody wins the coveted trophy outright as Fifa retains possession between tournaments, awarding a gold-plated replica to each World Cup champion.

Dense metal

Making his case on the university's Periodic Table of Videos website, Professor Poliakoff said a genuinely solid gold cup of this height would be "as much as the weight of quite a large adult".

Continue reading the main story
I don't think that it would be light enough for people to wave above their heads
Martyn Poliakoff
chemistry professor
"Gold is very heavy, it's one of the densest metals that there is," he said.

"According to my calculations, if it was solid all the way through, it would have somewhere between 70 and 80kg of gold in it."

The professor suggested the term "solid gold" might mean "the metal part is gold all the way through - it isn't that there is a thin layer of gold and the rest is steel, for example".

"However, I think - and I have no means of knowing - that perhaps the ball at the top, which is the world, is probably hollow... because I don't think that it would be light enough for people to wave above their heads, and also it would be a big waste of gold."

The professor added that he was "not very interested in football".

"I was a teenager when England won the World Cup in 1966," he said.

"I didn't watch the game then and I haven't watched a World Cup match since then, but perhaps I will watch something this year."


He's obviously a dull killjoy, but I have to agree - Gold is damned heavy stuff.

[little dave hedgehog]

you can wave it around your head because it's a replica.

[Tatterdemalion]

killjoy

[Neil Young]

Poliakoff is great. The Periodic Table of Videos is well worth watching from start to finish, which is a lot more than can be said for France/Uruguay, England/USA, South Africa/Mexico...

[Redspin]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/10301713.stm

Professor says World Cup trophy cannot be solid gold
Page last updated at 15:34 GMT, Saturday, 12 June 2010 16:34 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version Model Naomi Campbell recently posed with the trophy in Paris A British chemistry professor has calculated that if the World Cup trophy was really solid gold it would be too heavy for footballers to lift.

Martyn Poliakoff of Nottingham University estimates that a solid gold trophy of its size - 36cm (14 in) high - would weigh at least 70kg (154lb).

He concludes that the trophy, or at least part of it, must be hollow.

Fifa insisted that the metal part of the current trophy, which dates back to 1974, was "solid gold".

It told the BBC News website the prize weighed 6.175kg, including 4.9kg of "solid 18-carat gold" and two layers of the semi-precious stone malachite.

Nobody wins the coveted trophy outright as Fifa retains possession between tournaments, awarding a gold-plated replica to each World Cup champion.

Dense metal

Making his case on the university's Periodic Table of Videos website, Professor Poliakoff said a genuinely solid gold cup of this height would be "as much as the weight of quite a large adult".

Continue reading the main story
I don't think that it would be light enough for people to wave above their heads
Martyn Poliakoff
chemistry professor
"Gold is very heavy, it's one of the densest metals that there is," he said.

"According to my calculations, if it was solid all the way through, it would have somewhere between 70 and 80kg of gold in it."

The professor suggested the term "solid gold" might mean "the metal part is gold all the way through - it isn't that there is a thin layer of gold and the rest is steel, for example".

"However, I think - and I have no means of knowing - that perhaps the ball at the top, which is the world, is probably hollow... because I don't think that it would be light enough for people to wave above their heads, and also it would be a big waste of gold."

The professor added that he was "not very interested in football".

"I was a teenager when England won the World Cup in 1966," he said.

"I didn't watch the game then and I haven't watched a World Cup match since then, but perhaps I will watch something this year."


He's obviously a dull killjoy, but I have to agree - Gold is damned heavy stuff.

"Solid 18-carat gold" is a contradiction in terms. It means that its gold content is 18 parts gold and 6 parts base metal. If it was solid gold it would be 24 carat and would then be quite soft and very easy to damage. Gold is indeed heavy but, in its purest form, quite soft too

[MrsB]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCgElVlZhk"]YouTube- Chemistry of the World Cup Trophy[/ame]

[Neil Young]

That Carlos Valderrama has really changed, man.

[Kenneth]

you can wave it around your head because it's a replica.

SO the replica is used in the presentation, and a replica is given to the winners, with Fifa retaining possession of the real on between tournaments. If the real one isn't actually used for anything, why have it? If indeed a 'real one' does exist.

[CJ]

SO the replica is used in the presentation, and a replica is given to the winners, with Fifa retaining possession of the real on between tournaments. If the real one isn't actually used for anything, why have it? If indeed a 'real one' does exist.

maybe it is hollow. this doesnt stop it being solid gold. however being 18 carat does.

i can see it being hollow in the middle.