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How to Solve a 3X3X3
Rubik’s Cube
By Stephanie Kim
Introduction
HowtosolveaRubik’sCubeisthequestionthatwemakeourselveswhenweseeascrambledcubeforthefirsttime.Havingbillionsofcombinations,itisnearlyimpossibletosolveaRubik’sCubebytrialanderror.ThereareseveralwaystosolveaRubik’sCube.Here,IwillshowoneofthewaysthatyoucansolveaRubik’sCubeinfulldetail.Rubik’sCubeisa3Dcombinationpuzzleinventedin1974byHungarianarchitectureEmoRubik.Currently,itiswidelyconsideredtobetheworld’sbest‐sellingpuzzlegame.ThemostpopularmodelistheStandardCube(3X3X3).Othermodelscamelater:theJuniorCube(2X2X2),theRevengeCube(4X4X4),andtheProfessorCube(5X5X5).InastandardRubik’sCube,eachofthesixfacesiscoveredbynineblocks,eachblockswithoneofsixsolidcolors(traditionallywhite,red,blue,orange,green,andyellow).Aninternalpivotmechanismenableseachfacetoturnindependently,thusmixingupthecolors.Forthepuzzletobesolved,eachfacemustbereturnedtoconsistingofonecolor. Thesimplestmethodofresolutionforallthemodelsistosolvethecubebylayers,beginningfromthetoplayertothebottomlayer.First,thisinstructionwillgooverthebasictermsoftheRubik’scube,thentheinstructionwillbedividedintothreestages:1stlayer,2ndlayer,and3rdlayer.Intheend,itwillprovidemaintenancetips,andvideoclipversionofthisinstruction.Forabeginner,itwilltakeanhourortwo,evenlonger,tocompletethecube.However,donotgiveup!Ifyoupracticelongenough,solvingthecubewillbecomesecondnature.AlwaysrememberthatpracticeisthekeytomasteringtheRubik’scube.
Definitions of Rubik’s Cube Pieces 1. Center Pieces
‐ Pieceswithonecolor.Therearetotalsixcenterpieceslocatedinthecenterofeachside.Centerpiecesdonotmoveandrepresentthecoloroftheirside.
2. Edge Pieces ‐ Pieceswithtwocolors.Therearetwelve
edgepieceslocatedinthemiddlerow.
3. Corner Pieces ‐ Pieceswiththreecolors.Thereareeight
cornerpieceslocatedonthecorners.
Center Piece
Edge Piece
Corner Piece
FRONT RIGHT
LEFT 1st Layer (Top Layer)
2nd Layer (Middle Layer)
3rd Layer (Bottom Layer)
TOP
BOTTOM
Instructions 1st LAYER
1. Make a cross
1.1 Pickoutanycolorfromthecenterpiecesandsetitasthe“TopLayer”
1.2 Findedgesthatcorrespondtothecentercolorofthetoplayeranda
centercolorfromthesides.Forexample,ifthetoplayerisgreen,findedgeswithgreenandred,greenandyellow,greenandwhite,etc..
1.3 Turnthecubesothatthecoloroftheedgematchesthecenter
colorofaside.
1.4 Turnthecubesothattheothercoloroftheedgecreatesapartialcrossonthetoplayer.
1.5 Repeatsteps1.2–1.4untilyoucreateacompletecrossonthetoplayer.
2. Set the corners 2.1 Findacornerthatconsiststhecentercolorofthetop
layerandtwoothercentercolorsofthesides.
2.2 PlacethecornerintoitsOPTIMALPOSITION(Figuresbelow).
Greencornerpieceontheleftsideofthethirdlayer
Thecornerpieceisinbetweenthecorrespondingcentercolorsoforangeandyellow.
2.3Turnthe3rdlayerawayfromtheside,wherethecornerofinterestisplaced.Forexample,ifthecornerofinterestisatthebottomleftcorner,turnthe3rdlayertotheleft.
2.5Turnthe3rdlayertotheoppositedirectionofstep2.3Forexample,ifthe3rdlayerwasturnedtotheleftonstep2.3,turnthe3rdlayerbacktotherightforstep2.5.
2.6Liftupthesideofwhichyouhavebroughtdownonstep2.4Forexample,iftheleftsidewasbroughtdownonstep2.4,liftitupforstep2.6
2.7Repeatsteps2.1–2.6tocompletethe1stlayer.
TIP: Theturningdirectiondependsontheinitialpositionofthecornerpieceintheoptimalposition.
2.4Bringdowntheside,wherethecornerofinterestwasatpreviously.Forexample,ifthecornerofinterestwasatthebottomleftcorner,bringdowntheleftside.
2nd LAYER
3. Match the edges
3.3Turnthe3rdlayerawayfromthesidethatconsistthebottomcoloroftheedgeofinterestasacentercolor.Forexample,ifthebottomcoloroftheedgeisthecentercoloroftherightside,turnthe3rdlayertotheleft.
3.4Bringdowntheoppositesideofstep3.3Forexample,ifyouturnedthe3rdlayertotheleftonstep3.3,bringdowntherightsideforstep3.4.
3.5Turnthe3rdlayerbacktoitsinitialposition.Forexample,ifyouturnedthe3rdlayertotherightonstep3.3,turnitbacktotheleftforstep3.5.
3.6Liftupthesidethatyouhavebroughtdownonstep3.4.
3.1Findanedgethatconsiststwocentercolorsoftwodifferentsides.Donottouchanyedgesthatconsiststhecentercolorofthebottom.
APPROPRIATE EDGE
INAPPROPRIATE EDGE
3.2Aligntheedgeofinteresttothecentercolorofaside.Checkthebottomsideoftheedgeofinterest.Makesureitisnotthecentercolorofthebottom.
On the RIGHT
3.7Reassemblethedisplacedcorneredgeofthe1stlayerbyrepeatingsteps2.3–2.6.
3.8Repeatsteps3.1–3.7tocompletethe2ndlayer.
TIP: Theturningdirectiondependsontheinitialpositionoftheedgepiece.
3rd LAYER
4. Make a cross
4.1 Flipthecubesothatthe3rdlayerisfacingthetop.
4.2 Checkthe3rdlayer.Seeifitisinaformofadot,L‐shape,line,orcross.
4.3 Setthecubeinacorrectposition. Dot:Positiondoesnotmatter L‐Shape:OneoftheLedgesmustfacetowardsyou,andthe
othertotheright Line: Mustbehorizontal Cross: Youmayskipthisstep
DOT L-SHAPE LINE
TIP: Fromnowonwhenyouareturningthecube,makesureyoumaintaintheinitialposition.Forinstance,ifthewhitesideisfacingtowardyou,thewhitesideshouldstillfaceyouwheneveryouprecedethedirections
4.3Setthecubeinacorrectposition.
4.10Repeatsteps4.1–4.8toformacrossonthe3rdlayer.
4.4TurntheFrontsidetotheright.
4.5LiftuptheRightside.
4.6TurntheToptotheclockwise.
4.7BringdowntheRightside.
4.8TurntheToptothecounterclockwise.
4.9TurntheFrontsidetotheleft.
5. Match the edges
5.2Setthecubesothatoneoftheunalignededgesfacesyouandtheothertowardstheright.
5.3LiftuptheRightside.
5.1Turnthe3rdlayeruntilyouhavealignedmorethantwoedgeswiththecentercolorofthesides.
5.4Spinthe3rdlayertotheclockwisetwice.
X2
5.5BringdowntheRightside.
5.6Turnthe3rdlayertothecounterclockwiseonce.
5.7LiftuptheRightside.
5.8Turnthe3rdlayertothecounterclockwiseoncemore.
5.9BringdowntheRightside.
5.10Realigntheedgeswiththecentercolors.
6. Rearrange 3rd layer corners
6.1Checkifthefourcornersonthe3rdlayerareincorrectpositions.Checkifacornerconsistscolorsofthecentercolorsofthesides.Forexample,ifthethreecentercolorsareyellow‐green‐orange,checkifthecorneredgealsoconsistsyellow‐green‐orange.
CORRECT POSITION
INCORRECT POSITION
6.2Setthecubeinacorrectposition. Noneofthecornersareinacorrect
position:Positiondoesnotmatter.
Atleastonecornerisinacorrectposition:PositionthecubesothatthiscornerisontheBottomrightofthe3rdlayer.
Allofthecornersareincorrectpositions:Skiptostep7.
6.3LiftuptheLeftside.
6.4TurntheToplayertotheclockwiseonce.
6.5LiftuptheRightside.
6.6TurntheToplayertothecounterclockwiseonce.
6.7BringdowntheLeftSide. 6.8
TurntheToplayertotheclockwiseonce.
6.9BringdowntheRightside.
6.10TurntheToplayertothecounterclockwiseonce.
6.11Checkifallthecornersareincorrectpositions.
TIP: Aslongasthecornerconsiststhecolorsofcentersoftheadjacentsides,itisinacorrectposition.Thecolorsofthecornerdonothavetobeonthesamefaceofeachofitscentercolor.
7. Align the corner colors of the 3rd layer
7.1Setthecubesothattheunalignedcornersareontherightside.Ifallofthefourcornersareunaligned,thepositiondoesnotmatter.
On the Right side
7.2Repeatsteps5.3–5.10.
7.3Repeatsteps5.3–5.10ontheLeftside.Thisstepisverysimilartostep7.2.Theonlydifferenceisthatyouareturningthelefthandsideofthecube.Hereisadiagramforstep7.3.
7.4Repeatsteps7.1–7.3tocompletethe3rdlayer.
MissionAccomplished
X2
1 2 3 4
5 6 7
Maintenance Tips
Therearetwowaystoimproveyourcube’sperformance:Cleaningandusingalubricant.Theeasiestwaytoimprovethesmoothnessofthecubeistocleanthemovingpartsofthecube.Youcandisassemblethecubeandcleanoffthedustwithanoldtoothbrushoratowel.Inaddition,youmayalsouseasilicon‐basedlubricant,notpetroleumbased(WD‐40),tolubeyourcube.First,popoutanedgepieceandsprayabitinthehole.Putthepiecebackinandturnthecuberandomlyforawhiletospreadittoallthemovingparts.
Troubleshooting
IfyouarehavingtroublesolvingaRubik’scubethroughthishard‐copyversioninstruction,youcancheckoutthevideoclipversionofthisinstructionthroughhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaltgJGz‐dU.Thisvideoclipwillgoovertheinstructionindetailanditwillhelpyouunderstandthestepsevenbetter.