Is the World Cup trophy hollow?

It must? That much gold would be very difficult to lift above one's head otherwise?

We made a short video pondering this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCgElVlZhk

 

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Heh. Given the recent discussions, I thought you meant "morally empty".

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I suppose it must be, though. Is it actually supposed to be solid?

 

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Fifa say it is made of "solid gold" but does that mean it can't be hollow and just the gold bits are solid (well, 18 carat solid)? If it was solid through it would weigh 70-80kg maybe?

Not suggesting there is some great cover-up or lie, but it is an interesting thing to think about as we kind of always imagine that famous trophy as a big solid lump!

 

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I expect the gold bits are solid, yeah.

 

The trophy, originally named Victory, but later renamed in honour of former FIFA president Jules Rimet, was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli and depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and never recovered. The replacement trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was first used in 1974. Made of 18 carat gold with a malachite base, it depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The current holder of the trophy is Italy, winner of the 2006 World Cup.

Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga was awarded the commission. The trophy stands 36.5 centimetres (14.4 inches) tall and is made of 5 kg (11 lb) of 18 carat (75%) solid gold with a base (13 centimetres [5.1 inches] in diameter) containing two layers of malachite. It has been asserted that the trophy is likely to be hollow due to the high density of gold and that, if solid, it would weigh in the region of 70-80 kg.[9] Produced by Bertoni, Milano, it weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb) in total and depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. Gazzaniga described the trophy thus, "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.

WIKI

 

It's either hollow, or (more likely) filled with some other light material. I presume from the wording they use the phrase "solid gold" to refer to it's state prior to the melting process to manufacture the trophy as it would have been a solid ingot (or portion of), and also to distinguish it from anything fake that might be used to resemble gold.

As most people have stated, if it were the trophy that was solid the weight would be too much to lift.

 

That line was added to Wikipedia after we posted our video!

 

What material do you think is? We're only told about the 18-carat gold and malachite.

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Indeed and it's a good question - I could be wrong but I have a feeling the trophy could be quite fragile if it was hollow(depending on how thick the layer of gold is). As for what might be inside I'm not sure, could be some kind of strong plastic to help it keep it's shape and add rigidity.
Do we know the weight of the malachite used and the dimensions of the possibly hollow sphere? Can always try and work it out.

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This ended up on the BBC!!!

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

Original video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCgElVlZhk

 

I worked on an award once, it was made of solid aluminum plated with gold, about a foot and a half tall, and we concluded it was a mistake to make it that way. The thing weighed like 30 lbs. Gold plating over a hollow silver vessel is a much better way to do it, which I'm sure is what was done here.