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".
"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."
bbc
