Speedsolving the Rubik's Cube

If you were asked to solve a Rubik's cube, your first thought would most likely be to tear the stickers off and then put them back on to make the cube look solved. Everyone does that at some point,  but back in 6th grade, I decided that I wanted to learn how to actually solve the cube. After doing it for about a week consistently I had gotten to about 43 seconds but then stopped soon after. And now, 4 years later, I have once again gotten into solving Rubik's Cubes, and trying different types  and dimensions. This book covers the 2x2, the 3x3, the 4x4, and the 5x5 cubes, but for this first blog post, I will try not to cover too much at once. I will be focused on the general concept and also the 3x3.

First of all, it's understandable to get overwhelmed by the cube. According to Harris, "There are an amazing 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible configurations of Rubik's Cube, and only 1 of them is the solved position"(Harris 18). And also keep in mind that learning a Rubik's Cube is sort of like riding a bike, once you know how to do it, even if you take a long break like I did, its a lot easier to learn how to solve it. But also keep in mind that like Harris said, if you are a beginner and have no experience with a cube then the most frustrating part is learning how to solve it(Harris 19). But once you do, you will feel a huge sense of accomplishment because of the work you put in. And after 4 years of not solving it, within 2 days of having this book, and spending about 30 minutes each day, I was able to memorize how to solve it again.

In the back of this book, once you have learned how to solve the regular cube or any of the 4 variations I mentioned earlier, you have a special way to reward yourself. The book gives instructions on how to make "pretty patterns" with the cube once it is solved. Here is one example of a pretty pattern that Harris gives.

In the next blogs I will be learning and sharing about the three other types of cubes the book teaches about. Last tip, or helpful information, once you know how to solve the basic 3x3 cube, it will make all the other cubes a lot easier.

Question: Have you ever tried to solve a Rubik's Cube? And if you did did you actually learn or were you one of the many who just peeled the stickers?

Harris, Dan. Speedsolving the Cube: Easy-to-follow, Step-by-step Instructions for Many Popular 3-D Puzzles. New York: Sterling Pub., 2008. Print.