Rubik's Cube for Beginners

Introduction

There are different approaches for solving the Rubik's Cube (layer by layer, solving the corners first, starting with 2x2x2 block). Each of these methods can be broken down further, into varying levels of difficulty. The solution presented falls in the easy side of the layer by layer category. One reason it is easy is because it requires relatively few algorithms. The trade off is that it takes a little longer time to solve the cube. There are layer by layer methods that require over 50 algorithms that people have used to solve the cube under 15 seconds!

Structure of the cube

Using math, (volume of a cube=s3) you might think the Rubik's Cube is made up of 27 little cubes. However, you should not think of a Rubik's Cube this way. After all, the little cubes are not exactly all the same. 8 of them are corners, and 12 are edges. Then we have 6 fixed centers attached to the core in the center. The corners and edges rotate around the centers. Because the centers cannot move relative to each other, the colors of the centers determine the color of that face when the cube is solved.

  • The cubes in red are edge pieces.
  • The cubes in yellow are corners pieces.
  • The cubes in green are the centers.

Color Scheme

The color scheme I will be using is the "BOY" color scheme. It is the most popular color scheme and you can find it on most official cubes (not those knock-offs). White is opposite of yellow, red is opposite of orange, and blue is opposite of green. Blue, orange, and yellow go clockwise around a corner (hench the name "BOY").

In this solution, I use white as the bottom layer color, yellow as the top layer color, and blue, red, green, and orange as the middle layer colors. If I use the word "yellow", I really mean "top-layer color", if I use "white", I mean "bottom layer color", etc.