Rubik’s
Cube was sold and quickly spread worldwide making it the world’s top-selling
combination puzzle game. In a classic
3X3 Rubik's Cube, there are six faces with the solid colors of red, blue,
orange, green, white, and yellow. Each color is arranged to be in a clockwise
order and the pieces have orientation. In addition, according to Ecke and Von
Renesse book “Games and puzzles”, “There are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different
configurations of the cube, which is approximately forty-three quintillion.”
That means the cube has a lot of possibilities to be solved. It is said that
Rubik’s Cube can be solved in 26 moves or less.
Each time the cube is turned upward, downward, or to the
left and right, the faces and colors of the cube change position. The purpose
for the Rubik’s Cube is for the six solid colors to fully consist of only one color
and cover a 3X3 face. In order for the puzzle to be solved, each face has to
consist of one color on all sides.
There are two main techniques that lead to solving the Rubik’s
Cube. The first one is by peeling off the
stickers and taking the cube apart to reassemble them, but that is considered
cheating; off the list. The other option
is by actually working to solve it with smaller set of moves or longer moves. Going
back to Ecke’s book of Games and puzzles, it says that “The conventional
notation for the different faces, usually named Singmaster notation, go Up,
Down, Front, Back, Left, and Right.”
Ecke also adds that in order to solve the
Rubik’s Cube, you need to solve the first layer; it is recommended to solve the
white side first and there is an algebraic structures to create the first move;
M1 = R−1DRD−1, and M1 is considered the first
magical move. To begin, solve the first top layer of the cube. You perform M1 continuously until you perform
another magical move, which will be called M2, which involved a new move that
was already used. MR is a clockwise
rotation on the middle parallel right side.
Combining all these moves creates an equation like this M2=MRUMRUMRUMRU.
There is also a notation according to David Joyner’s book “The (legal) Rubik’s
Cube Group”. David includes that “First,
orient all the corners and edges as in Theorem 9.6.1. These are the depicted as
follows on the F, R, and U faces.”
What I found interesting on this topic is that even though
the Rubik’s Cube has been around for 40 years, many people are still spending
their time solving this puzzle game. The
Rubik’s Cube has become popular over the years and up to today; there are
associations that organize competitions to see who can complete the puzzle in
the fastest time. There are also some crazy competitions in solving the
cube. There is the challenge of solving
it blindfolded, solving the cube underwater in a single breath, solving the
cube with one hand, and another crazy situation is solving the cube with their
feet. This 3X3 cube and its competitions have made fortunes and have won
several “Toy of the Year” awards. I myself,
am an owner of a Rubik’s Cube and let’s just say it keeps me busy. I watched
the study guide video on rubiks.com explaining how to solve the original 3X3
Rubik’s Cube and I was able to learn some of the methods to completely solve
the puzzle. Really enjoyed writing about this topic, but at some point, I was
still unsure on how the equation worked, since there are many movements you can
do to try to solve the Rubik’s Cube.
“How
to Solve the Original 3x3 Rubik’s Cube." Rubiks. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.rubiks.com/solving-guide/3x3
Joyner,
David. "The (legal) Rubik's Cube Group." Adventures in Group Theory.
2002. Print.
The book "Games and Puzzles" by Ecke and Von Renesse
Solving a rubik's cube always seemed like an impossibility, but knowing that there is a sort of mathematical equation and pattern does give some hope. I can't believe there is over 43 quintillion configurations for a rubik's cube. Imagine how many there could be for a 4x4 or a 5x5. Getting a little curious at how fast someone could solve a rubik's cube, I found a video with multiple world records in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW-rd9ZR-TA I wonder if Professor Rubik knew how popular his invention would've been when he made it. It is still amazing to know that people today are playing with an old toy.
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ReplyDeleteI liked your post about the Rubik's cube it was very fun to read, especially since I have been trying to solve these puzzles since I was younger. It surprised me that the cube can be solved in just 26 moves because it always seems like even the fastest solvers that I have seen online or read about make more than 26 different moves to align all of the colors. It is also interesting that an easier way to solve the cube would be to solve the first layer first.
ReplyDeleteI've always been intrigued by the fact that some people can solve Rubik's cubes so fast! I've tried to solve them so many times and have not even come close. I think its amazing that you can solve it in just 26 moves. I really like the fact that you talked about how to solve it! Maybe I'll give it one last attempt sometime soon!
ReplyDeleteThe Rubik's Cube is something I've tried to solve many times in the past, though it did take me many moves to do so. It's interesting how it is possible to solve it in only 26 moves. Even today it's still a popular toy to play with just because of the simple goal to have each face consist of one color. It was great that you included the way to solve it by first solving one face of the cube.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your summary about the Rubik's cube! I never knew there were so many different ways to solve the Rubik's cube. I also liked seeing the math behind the Rubik's cube and the different strategies used to solve the Rubik's cube. I had previously known the Up, Down, Front, Back, Left, Right pattern but it was nice to see that in your summary!
ReplyDeleteI found this to be an interesting topic since it had to do with the Rubik's cube. I have spent multiple days trying to solve the Rubik's cube but I have yet to solve one. What I have been able to do is solve one side but with the strategies that you have wrote about are definitely ones that I would take into consideration.
ReplyDeletethere are few things that i fail to figure out after messing with them for a while and a rubik's is one of them. i have never fully understood or solved a rubik's cube and i had heard rumors of a formula. I wish that you had went into more detail on the formula however. it was a good read though.
ReplyDeleteThe Rubik's cube is a good one; not my thing though, mainly because I've never been able to solve all the sides, one side was always as far as I could go. Its amazing how other people can take as little time as 20 seconds to solve it: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/rubiks_cube_saves_new_york_mag.html I found that interesting but I highly doubt the magic part of it
ReplyDeleteSeeing how fast people can solve the Rubik's cube is outstanding, i have never been able to do it. The math behind it is very interesting. I liked how you talked about how to solve it.
ReplyDeleteI have never even screwed around with a rubik's cube and now knowing there are over 43 quintillion combinations scares me even more. I have always wondered about the math behind and rubik's cube so I am happy that someone wrote about this topic. I think if I were to pick a strategy, I would have to pick the pealing the stickers off one.
ReplyDeleteI think it would have been better if you had talked more about how some people can figure this out blindfolded. It would have just been cool to see the strategy behind it. It is really cool how there are over 43 quintillion combinations but I like the strategy of just peeling the stickers off the best.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to know how many different solutions the Rubik's cube has. I never would have guessed it to be 43 quintillion. It was also interesting to know it can be solved in only 26 moves. I liked how you explained the different strategies to winning the Rubik's cube.
ReplyDeleteThe Rubik's Cube is a topic that I know a lot about. Even though I know how to solve a Rubik's Cube, and it can be made very simple if you do not get caught up in the permutations, you were able to talk about the history, of which I knew little. The algorithms behind solving a Rubik's Cube are really simple, if seen, rather than read. If the algorithms are broken down, and taken step by step, (the definition of an algorithm) a Rubik's Cube can be solved over and over. This was a really good topic to write the blog post on.
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