Basis & Structure

Center
Surface
6 of them, 6 colors
Center Cube
6 of them (fixed)
Corner
Edge Cube
12 of them
Corner Cube
Edge
8 of them
 Graph for Edges
Bijection
A new game
A1

C4 C3 C1

C1
B1 B2

C2

b
A4 C4 C2 A2 B2
b
B3

A2

B4 B3
C3

B4 A3

A3
 A1
Operation
A1

B1 C1 B2
B1 C4
B2

A4 C4 C2 A2
A4 B3 C1 A2

B4 C3 B3
C3 C2 A3
A1 A4
b

A3
B4
B1 C4
B1 C1 B2 B2

B4 B3 C1 A1
A4 C4 C2 A2
b

C3 C2 A3
C3 B3 A3 b

A2
B4
 Graph for Corners
2 3
Bijection
Corners numbered in order 1 4
Another new game 7 (inside)
8 5
8 1 6
7 2

6 3

5 4
 Operation
8 1 8 4
7 2 7 1

6 3 6 2
5 4 5 3

4 3 4 3
7 1 1 2

6 2 7 6

8 5 8 5
 Edge State
in right position, can be error
A state parameter needed
Consider certain color & its opposite color
B VS G
W VS Y B

O VS R
R

W
Y
G
 Case 1
Both with same or opposite color
e.g. AA BB or AA BB or AA BB
PS: A completed Rubik cubes edges all have a parameter 0

0 0 0
B B B
B B B
A
Red A
Red Red
A

A
Red A
Red A
Red
 Case 2
Both not with same or opposite color
e.g. AB AB or AB AB or AB AB

1 1 1
B B B
A A A
B
Red B
Red B
Red

A
Red A
Red A
Red
 Case 3 & 4
Irrelevant color involved
e.g. CA BB state 1 (Case 3)
e.g. CB AB state 2 (Case 4)
1 0
B B
B A
A
Red B
Red

CRed
/ C CRed
/ C
 Corner State
Top/Bottom face state 0 (when completed, final state)
Clockwise face state 1 (when completed, final state)
The face left state 2 (when completed, final state)
State parameter = current state faces parameter
(current state) State face 0

Top State Surface

1
Bottom
State
Surface
(inside)
2
Operation (Considering state)
Case 1: Vertical
State unchanged
8 1

7 2

6 3

5 4
 Case 2: Horizontal
State changing as left graph
Simply +1 or -1 8 1

7 2
- +

+ -
6 3

- +
5 4
+ -
 Case 3: w.r.t. axis
State changing as left graph
Simply +1 or -1 8 1

+ - 7 2

- +
6 3
+ -
5 4
- +
 1st Layer
Observation + Operation
Locus Method
Avoidance Method
 Locus Method
Possible position after one operation
b, c, d, e, f and a: relative locus

b
d
a
f e
 Steps & Example
Target & destination
Public
square relative locus Locus
2
3
Destination Public
locus
Target replaces the
destination one 1
If needed,
target somewhere
irrelevant to the
Destination before any
operation
 Avoidance Method
Sometimes, some other squares position
may be affect when moving the target
square to its destination position
Like the last step in Locus Method
But this time, we need to deal with 2
blocks
 Steps & Example
target block
somewhere
2
irrelevant to the 3
Destination
before any
operation
1
 2nd Layer
Try & error some method
some method derived method
 A1
Method A A1

B1 C1 B2

B1 C1 B2

A4 C4 C2 A2

A4 C4 C2 A2 b
b
A1

C3 B3 A3
B4 C3 B3

C4
B1 B2

B4
A3

A4 B3 C1 A2

C3 C2 A3

B4
 A1
A1

B1 B3
C4 B2
B1 B2

A4 C4 A2
A4 B3 C1 A2 C3

B4 B4 C1 C2
C3 C2
A1
b

A3 A3
B1 B3 C4

A4 B2
C3 C2

B4 C1 A2

A3
 A1
A1

B1 C2 B2
B1 C2 C4
b b

A4 C4 A2
C1 B2 B3
A4 B3

B4 C3 C1
B4 C3 A2

A3
A3
 State changes
Step B1 B2 B4 C1 A2 A3
1 + +

2 +

3 + +

4 +

5 + +

6 +

7 + + +

Total 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Method B
change all to and all to
change the 5th and 7th steps from right-
switching to left-switching A1

method A method B B1 C1 B2

Always check the states A4 A2

B4 C1

A3
 3rd Layer
Last layer
More cubes position & state cannot be
changed
 A1
Method C A1

B1 C1 A2
B1 C1 B2

A4 C4 B2 B3
A4 C4 C2 A2

A1 B4 C3 C2
B4 C3 B3

A3
A3 B1 B2 A2

A4 C1 C3 B3

B4 C4 C2

A3
 A1
A1

B1 B2 A2
B1 C1 A2

A4 C1 C3 B3
A4 C2 B2 B3

C4 C2 A3
C4 C3
A3

B4
B4

A1
A1

B1 C1 A2
B1 C1 B2

A4 C2 B2 B3

b A4 C2 C3 A2

B4 C3
C4
B4 B3
C4

A3
A3
 State changes
Step A1 A2 A3 A4 B1 B2 B3 B4 C1 C2 C3 C4
1 + + + +

2 + + + +

3 + + + +

4 + + + +

5 + + + +

6 + + + +

Tota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
l
 Observation
No change in both position and state of the
bottom and 2nd layers.
But an obvious change in the top layer.
Let C1, 2, 3 and 4 be A, B, C and D, --- state
parameter followed D-0 D-0

A-0 C-0 C-1 B-0

B-0 A-1
 Method D
A1 A1

B1 C4 C1 B1 C3 C1

A4 C3 B3 B2 A4 C2 C4 B2

B4 A2 B4 B3 A2
C2

A3 A3
 A1
A1

B1 C3 C1
B1 C4 C1

A4 C2 C4 B2
A4 B3 B2
C3
b

A1
B4 B3 A2
B4 A2
C2

B1 C3
B2
A3
A3

A4 C2 C1 A2

B4 B3 C4

A3
 A1
A1

B1 C2 B2
B1 C2
C3

A4 C3 A2
B3
A4 B3 C4 B2

B4 C1 C4
B4 C1 A2

A3
A3

A1
A1

B1 C1
C3
B1 C1 B2

A4 C4 B3 B2
A4 C4 A2
C3

B4 C2 A2
B4 C2 B3

A3
A3
 State changes
Step A1 A2 A3 A4 B1 B2 B3 B4 C1 C2 C3 C4
1 + + + +
2 + + + +
3 + + + +
4 + + + +
5 + + + +
6 + + + +
7 ++ ++ ++ ++
8 + + + +
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
 Observation
No change in both position and state of the
bottom and 2nd layers.
But obvious change in the top layer
Let C1, 2, 3 and 4 be A B, C and D, --- state
parameter followed
D-0 D-0

A-0 C-0 A-0 B-1

B-0 C-1
 Method E
Derived by method C & D
D-0 D-0 D-0

A-0 C-0 C-1 B-0 A-0 B-0

B-0 A-1 C-0

D-0 D-0

A-0 C-0 A-0 B-0

B-0 C-0
 Demonstration
Arbitrary start
Deal with the top layer
Put C1 to the correct position but not
consider its state parameter
All state
C1 C1 parameters are 0

Unknown
state
parameter
Ck Cp C4 C2

Cq C3
 Demonstration (cont.)
Case 1: C1 = 0
completed Jump to next step
Case 2: C1 = 1
use method D
C1= Cp C1=
1
0

Ck Cp Ck C1= Cp Cq
0

Cq Cq Ck
 Demonstration (cont.)
A completed Rubik Cubes every edge cubes
state parameter is 0
After every operation, the total parameter
changes is +4
i.e. the total parameter must be an even number.
A1~4, B1~4,C1 all equal to 0
C2, C3 and C4: cant be one 1 or three 1
among them
 Demonstration (cont.)
Case 1: no 1 among C2, C3 and C4
i.e. C1=0, C2=0, C3=0, C4=0 use method
E
Case 2: 2 1 among C2, C3, C4.
If these 2 1 are adjacent use method D
change both of them to 0 case 1
If these 2 1 are not adjacent use method
C
change both of them to 0 case 1.
 Method F
Corners of the top layer left after the
previous steps
More and more complicated
TASK: deal with the 4 corners
CAUTION: cannot affect the other 22
cubes
A new method needed
 A1 A1

B1 C1 B2 B1 C1 A2

A4 C4 C2 A2 A4 C4 B2 B3

C2
B4 C3
B3 B4 C3

A3 A3
A1
A1

C4 A2
A4
B1 C4 A2

B4 B1 C1 B3
A4 C3 C1 B3

C3 C2
C2 B2
B4 B2

A3
A3
 A1

C1
A4 A2

B4 C4 B2 B3

A1
C3 C2
B1
A1
b

C1
A4 B2
A3
C4
A4 B2

B4 C4 C2 A2
b B4 B1 C1 A2

C3 B1 B3

C3 B3
C2

A3

A3
 A1
A1

B1 C1 B2
C4
B1 B2

A2
A4 C4 C3
C3 C1 A2
A4

B4 C2 B3
B4 B3
C2 b
b

A3
A3
 All edge cubes parameter equal to 0
No changes occurred
Table of state parameter omitted
Consider corners
 8 1 8 1 8 3
7 2 7 2 7 1

6 3 5 6 5 2

5 4 4 3 4 6

3 1 3 7 3 7
8 7 8 2 8 2

5 2 5 6 6 1

4 6 4 1 5 4

3 4 8 3 8 4
8 7 7 4 7 2

6 2 6 2 6 1

5 1 5 1 5 3
 Observation
Corner 1, 3 and 4 change their position
State parameter +1
Other 22 cubes remain unchanged
Steps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 + - + -
2
3 - + + -
4
5 - + - +
6
7 - + - +
8
Total -2=+1 0 +1 +1 0 0 0 0
 Method G
Derived by Method F (Opposite process )
A1 A1

8 1
B1 C1 B2 B1 C1 B2 7 2

6 3
A4 C4 C2 A2 A4 C4 C2 A2

b b
5 4

B4 C3 B3 B4 C3 B3

8 3
A3 A3 7 2
1.3 and 4 corners
6 4
parameters minus 1
5 1
 Last 4 Corners
Divide into 2 parts
1. Change all the parameter to 0
2. Switch them to the correct position
 Part 1
Sum of all parameters must be a multiple
of 3
Case 1: 0, 0, 0, 0
Case 2: 0, 1, 1, 1
Case 3: 0, 0, 1, 2
Case 4: 0, 2, 2, 2
Case 5: 1, 1, 2, 2
 Part 1 (cont.)
Case 1 Done.
Case 2: 0,1,1,1
Use method G: 0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-1; Result: 0, 0, 0, 0
Case 3: 0,0,1,2
Use method F: 0+1, 0+1, 1, 2+1; Result: 1, 1, 1, 0
case 2
case 4: 0,2,2,2
Use method F: 0, 2+1, 2+1, 2+1; Result: 0, 0, 0, 0
case 5: 1,1,2,2
Use method G: 1-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2; Result: 0, 0, 1, 2
case 3
 Part 2
Put corner cubes in order
Introduce method H
For interchanging 2 corner cubes which are
beside each other
 Method H
8 1 8 1 8 1
7 2 7 2 5 4
Move twice
Move twice
6 3 4 5 2 7

5 4 3 6 3 6

8 1 2 8 2 8
5 4 5 4 5 4
Move twice
7 6 7 6 3 7

2 3 3 1 1 6
 2 8 2 8 8 1
7 3 7 3 7 3

4 5 5 6 5 6

1 6 4 1 2 4

8 1 8 2
7 3 7 1

6 4 6 3

5 2 5 4
 Observation
Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 +- -+ +- -+

2 +- +- -+ -+

3 - + - +

4 - - + +

5 - + + -

6 +- +- -+ -+

7 + - + -

8 + + - -

9 + - - +

10

Total 0 0 +3=0 -3=0 0 0 0 0

 Part 2 (cont.)
With only method H
locate the corners to correct position
in right state
Combine all the methods Deal with the
whole Rubik Cube
 Proof by State Graphs
1. Interchanging 6 centers or 4 centers is
possible, but not 2 centers
2. Impossible to make odd number edge
cubes 2 sides interchanged
3. Impossible to make only 1 corner
cubes 3 sides interchange (Trivial)