The MOST difficult problem in the universe is not an equation nor a theory, it is....

[Knowledge_Seeker]

Well at least for me, the Rubix Cube is the most difficult problem that i have faced in my whole young life.

I was wondering if any of you have ever solved it...? and if you have what is your porcess or procedure?

Because i can solve one face of the cube with absolutely no problem, but thats the end of the road for me.

I usually then try to go solve it layer by layer, but then for me i see it as impossible to solve one side without ruining another.

Please share.......

[snarkophilus]

I figured out a method that's maybe not as fast as some of the ones out there, but I find it easy enough to remember because when in doubt, you can solve most of the cube with a single sequence of turns. I doubt I can take credit for it, though, because someone else probably figured it out long before me. :) Anyway, here it is. I only use my sequence for the bottom corners, because the rest is easier to just do.

My top and middle layers are pretty much the same as this: http://peter.stillhq.com/jasmine/rubikscubesolution.html
although I often use a somewhat faster way that's a little more complicated -- it skips doing the middle layer. Anyway, I'll use the notation from that site from here on. Any of the sequences described there can be done in mirror, too.

I do the bottom layer differently from what's described there. I start with the corners. In the notation used on that page, the following sequence is very helpful:

R F' R' F D F D' F'

This moves three of the bottom corners (or top ones, even, if you want to do the whole cube like this). You can use it to get the corners in place, even if they're not oriented correctly. Once you have them in place, orient them by using that sequence as follows:

1. Put the two cubes you want to change at the back.
2. Do the sequence.
3. Rotate the cube so that the right face is now the front.
4. Do the sequence again, substituting L for R, L' for R', F for F', and D for D'. Basically, the mirror image of the original sequence.

This rotates the back left cube clockwise (if you're looking from the outer corner to the centre of the cube) by one turn, and the back right cube clockwise by two turns (or counter-clockwise by one -- same thing).

So now you just have the bottom edges to do. I use the first of the following sequences to get them all in position, then both of the sequences (swapping order sometimes) to get the colours to match. In both sequences, you'll change the positions of the three bottom edge cubes that are not in the front.

Although they look long, once you get them under your fingers, you'll realise that they're pretty easy to remember.

First sequence:
L' R F L R' D2 L' R F L R'
(substitute F' for F to go the other way, or just do it twice)

Second sequence: F L B' L' B F' D B D' B'
(Again you can mirror it. I actually do this with the "left" side facing me because it's easier on the wrists.)

The important thing is to pick a method, practice, and get used to what the moves are doing. It helps to carry a pencil and paper about. Soon you'll be solving the thing in no time! The really nice thing about this way is that you can use the corner rotation thing to do all the corners first, then the edge rotations to do all the edges. It's a pleasant variation.

[Cookie]

Well at least for me, the Rubix Cube is the most difficult problem that i have faced in my whole young life.

I was wondering if any of you have ever solved it...? and if you have what is your porcess or procedure?

Because i can solve one face of the cube with absolutely no problem, but thats the end of the road for me.

I usually then try to go solve it layer by layer, but then for me i see it as impossible to solve one side without ruining another.

Please share.......
There was a time when the diffrent color squares were stickers and not painted on....
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/joethedude/Shifty_Smiley.gif

Perhaps I have said too much...
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/joethedude/Doh_Smiley.gif

[Tog_]

There was a time when the diffrent color squares were stickers and not painted on....
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/joethedude/Shifty_Smiley.gif

Perhaps I have said too much...
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/joethedude/Doh_Smiley.gif

I never solved one. but I could field strip it and reassemble it in under a minute.:dance:

Or there's this... (http://lar5.com/cube/index.html)

[Cookie]

I read somewhere that they had to abandon a new toy idea (combining a Rubix Cube with a Magic 8 Ball) because of possible lawsuits, as the answers it gave hit you like a brick....

[Knowledge_Seeker]

YEAH! thank for the links, now i can solve two layers with ease.

but now the true problem arises. the last layer. the thing is that this is so difficult, you have to remember the alithograms. which are not a walk in the park. but from here.....i think i give up and leave it at solving two layers.....:(

[cjl]

I have been able to solve it before - there was a time when I could solve one in under 5 minutes (yes, I had WAY too much free time). Now I have forgotten several tricks, and can only occasionally solve it (I can still do most of it without issues though)

[Taks]

my record was just under a minute... i was about 13 at the time. memorized the steps for the solution and then practiced repeatedly for several months. probably spent an hour a day playing with it. i believe the world record is in the sub-30 second range.

taks

[Knowledge_Seeker]

when you were 13? im 14 :( it seems to much work to memorize all those alithograms.

but as for thw world record i believe it is somewhere between 10.5 and 11.5 seconds. how they do this i dont know. because my cube jets jammed after every other move.

[Nowhere Man]

My method of solving the cursed thing is to do the corners first. Get all eight corner pieces in place, and then you can manipulate the edge pieces without messing up the corners. Takes me anywhere between 1 to 3 minutes to do it. But then I've been fiddling with it for 20 years.

(Not that it took me 20 years to figure it out -- that part was only about 6 months or so, off and on.)

The record holders have special racing cubes. The springs are removed, and dry lubricant is added. They are well broken-in as well.

The oddest cube-related thing I've seen is a Lego contraption for solving it.

Fred

[Arneb]

I got one for Christmas in, I think, 1982 or thereabouts. Solutions started to appear about half a year later. Even Der Spiegel, Germany's leading (and then only) newsmagazine, published a solution a little later, along with a title story about the quaint maths professor from Hungary.

From then on, it was only how fast you could do it. And then, off to the dusty shelf, later, into the wastebin. Sigh.

[SeanF]

I could do it in about 3 minutes at my prime. I'm a little slower now.

I still take it down and mix it up and solve it every once in a while. I've also got the 4x4x4 version and just got the 5x5x5 one this last Christmas. Took me about an hour to solve that the first time! :)

[Knowledge_Seeker]

what are your strategies to solve it (and if you can give a link)

[zebo-the-fat]

I fiddled with it for about a minute then threw the evil thing into a corner and never touched it again! :D

[mickal555]

I fiddled with it for about a minute then threw the evil thing into a corner and never touched it again! :D

Ha! same :D


Well after a while I spray painted the whole thing silver in tech studies :D

"there! did it!"

[HenrikOlsen]

The most impressive thing I've seen was blindfolded solving, ie. first solve it mentally, then put on a blindfold and do it for real.
I've forgotten too many of the operators to solve it easily.
Evil trick, take a cube, scramble it, pick it partially apart and turn one edge and one corner, put it together and leave it for the owner.

[SeanF]

what are your strategies to solve it (and if you can give a link)
Are you asking me about the higher-count cubes? There are a number of sites that have tips for them. You can pretty much just do a google search and pick and choose, they're all about the same. :)

Basically, what they boil down to (for both 4x4x4 and 5x5x5) is to put the centers together, then pair up the edge pieces (or triple up the edge pieces in the 5x5x5). Then you've essentially got a 3x3x3 cube that can be for the most part solved through regular old 3x3x3 methods.

One interesting thing about the 4x4x4 cube. With the odd-numbered cubes, the perfect centers on each side never actually move - that is, if your blue center piece is opposite your white center piece on a scrambled cube, you know right away that the blue side will end up opposite the white side when completed. With the 4x4x4, you don't have that "hint" - so if you're solving a cube you've never seen before, you have to figure the opposite sides by looking at which colors are (not) paired up on edge pieces. And you pretty much have to do that right away, because it's easiest if you complete the centers on opposite sides as the first thing. :)

[Knowledge_Seeker]

i was asking about the 3x3x3

[Dragon Star]

I could do it in about 3 minutes at my prime. I'm a little slower now.

I still take it down and mix it up and solve it every once in a while. I've also got the 4x4x4 version and just got the 5x5x5 one this last Christmas. Took me about an hour to solve that the first time! :)

A little part of me died while reading this.:(

[Knowledge_Seeker]

A little part of me died while reading this.:(

Not only did i die, buy my soul committed suicide :(

[LurchGS]

heh, my dad and I sat down and worked it out in about 45 minutes when I got my first one.

Since then, I've never met a Rubics cube I couldn't sove with a big enough hammer.

[SeanF]

i was asking about the 3x3x3
Oh, okay. My method on the 3x3x3 is layer-by-layer, but I had to memorize algorithms for the bottom layer.

Dragon Star, the only reason I was able to solve the 5x5x5 cube in about an hour right away was because I already knew how to solve the 4x4x4. Going from the 4 to the 5 actually involves much less "new" stuff than does going from the 3 to the 4.

And it probably would've been less than an hour, but the 5 is more fragile and requires a more delicate touch to avoid breaking it. Plus, it was brand new and so turned a little stiffly. My fingers were actually sore when I was done from the gripping and twisting I was doing. :)

(oh, btw, I believe that 5x5x5 is the largest cube ever made - there are physical restrictions in making anything larger that can still turn in all the possible permutations without falling apart. There are computer programs that simulate larger cubes though - up to 20x20x20! :surprised )

[snarkophilus]

The most impressive thing I've seen was blindfolded solving, ie. first solve it mentally, then put on a blindfold and do it for real.
I've forgotten too many of the operators to solve it easily.
Evil trick, take a cube, scramble it, pick it partially apart and turn one edge and one corner, put it together and leave it for the owner.

Just the edge will suffice. Perhaps just the corner, as well. I can't remember what the space group looks like, exactly.

Better yet, take the stickers off and make a corner piece that has both green and blue on it. Watch someone try to figure out where that one goes! :)

I have a video on my computer of a guy doing it blindfolded. It's crazy.

[Knowledge_Seeker]

Oh, okay. My method on the 3x3x3 is layer-by-layer, but I had to memorize algorithms for the bottom layer.




You memorized algorithms? How many? All 78 for the last layer?

But im assuming you only memorized a few that were consistent, but i am trying to memorize all 78 for the heck of it because it seems that most of them relate to each other. with me luck!

[SeanF]

You memorized algorithms? How many? All 78 for the last layer?

But im assuming you only memorized a few that were consistent, but i am trying to memorize all 78 for the heck of it because it seems that most of them relate to each other. with me luck!
That's quite a lithp you've got there. ;) Good luck!

Let's see. In the method I use, there are two different sequences of moves to position the four bottom corners (but they're very closely related - one has a B+ and a B- where the other has two B2s).

There's only one sequence of moves to orient the bottom corners. Sometimes I have to do the sequence twice, and sometimes I have to do it backwards the first time. Now, there are somewhere around half-a-dozen possible orientations of the bottom corners, and which face you use as the front face for the sequence (and whether you do it forward or backward) depends on which orientation I'm starting with. I used to have the possibilities memorized, but I've forgotten them. That's okay, though, because I know what the sequence of moves does and so I can figure out what face needs to be the front face just by looking at the corners. :)

Then for the bottom edges, there's one sequence of moves to position them (but I may have to do it twice with different front faces), and then there's three different algorithms to orient the edges.

So how many different algorithms is that? :)

(It's not - by far - the fastest solving method, but it's one that is fairly easy to memorize).

[Moose]

I never solved one. but I could field strip it and reassemble it in under a minute.:dance:

My college physics prof used to say: "A solution is THE solution." Since then, I've been remarkably guilt-free about using the engineering solution. :D

[Knowledge_Seeker]

im so confused........and as for those algorithms, 78 is too many for me so i quit. i can only solve 2 layers........ :(

[Roy Batty]

im so confused........and as for those algorithms, 78 is too many for me so i quit. i can only solve 2 layers........ :(
Me too! but don't worry, after over 2 decades I can still scoff at people who can only solve a few 'sides' :) Btw I still havn't given up on discovering the secret of the 3rd layer by myself. I just keep the cube safely wrapped up under the floorboards where it's constant clicking, clicking, Clicking.. won't disturb me.

Excuse me, I think I need to go down & rest now... :)

[Lianachan]

A cousin of mine could solve it in well sub-minute times, I think I remember him doing it in less than 30 seconds with monotonous regularity.

[Knowledge_Seeker]

..............i have jealousy for those who can solve it........ *grrrrr*

[farmerjumperdon]

..............i have jealousy for those who can solve it........ *grrrrr*

You could do it if you wanted - nothing to be jealous about. On some level you have decided not to solve it. I'm the same way. I love to figure things out, build things, unravel mysteries, etc; but there needs to be more of a point to it. I rarely spend time on puzzles for the sake of solving puzzles. Anything that is going to take that much of my time and brainpower just ain't gonna get done unless there is a tangible result. And once you've done it a few times, what's the point of continuing.

I remember when they first came out. I solved a side or 2, decided the rest was more work than it was worth, and went dirt biking the rest of the afternoon. Never tried again.

A couple people I know are into Suduko. I did a couple of them - and can't see why I'd spend time doing any more. I mean, if you've solved half a dozen Suduko puzzles, what is the point of doing hundreds more?

[Knowledge_Seeker]

On some level you have decided not to solve it. I'm the same way.

Actually i havent, i tried for such a long time, and thats when i gave up.....

[farmerjumperdon]

Actually i havent, i tried for such a long time, and thats when i gave up.....

Not to argue or play semantics, but this is a perfect example of the kind of distinction to "get" in order to empower yourself (to prepare for the truly important things that will present to you throughout life).

In giving up you have decided not to solve it. There are books and websites galore that will walk you thru, step by step, the solution. The only thing stopping you is your decision not to continue.

I harp on this because most of life is that way. When I consel kids who are seriously thinking about dropping out (or who have dropped out), the most common excuse I get is "I can't." That is so much tripe. There is no way to get to the real bottom line of why they think leaving school is the right thing to do when they do not even see the possibility that they can finish school, but have decided not to.

Kind of like an addict - there's no way to heal and recover if they can not at first admit to being an addict.

I know, pretty preachy stuff for a Rubik's cube thread. I'm just very passionate about young people going down certain paths, and it almost always starts with the perceptions of what they can and can't do.