Rubik's Cube #1: Basics and Terminology

Quick notice: I copy/pasted these three posts from an HTML document I already made. That looks a whole lot better than these posts (formatting, pictures), so e-mail me if you want it.

The is the first of two parts on how to solve the Rubik's Cube. This part introduces some basic facts you need to know before actually learning to solve it. It is highly recommended to have one with you when going through this!

This solution is based on the work of James Nourse. More info on him and alternate solutions on Part 3.

Basics

Instead of viewing the Cube as a single cube, view it as 26 cubits. 6 are single sided, the ones in the center of each face. These never move. If you have one with white on one side and blue on the other, they will remain on opposite sides. Use these for reference! 12 are edge cubits, having two sides. They are then in between two center cubits. The three sided ones are the 8 corner cubits.

Each edge and corner cubit need to be in a certain position in the cube, the position that shares all the colors as the center cubits. For example, if you have an orange and white edge cubit, it belongs in between the orange and white centers, no where else. A cubit is called correctly positioned if this is true. It is called correctly orientated if the correctly positioned cubit has the colors adjacent to the center colors.

Terminology

Pick your favorite color. Position the cube so that the center with that color is pointing up. This is the top (or T) face. Look at the face in front of you. This is the front (F) face. The faces to the left and right of the F face is the Left (L) and Right (R) face. The face pointing to the floor is the Bottom (B) face. The face pointing away from you is the posterior (P) face and is rarely used. While solving the cube, the T and B faces will remain the same while the rest will change places.

A + is used to symbolize a quarter turn clockwise. So F+ means move the F face one turn clockwise. Likewise a - is used to symbolize a counter-clockwise turn and a 2 to show a full half-turn.

Each cube location and cubit also has their own names. For example, the TF (or FT if you prefer) cube location is between the T and F faces. The TFR corner cube belongs on the common corner to the T, F, and R faces.

Test

To see if you understand the above, note the orientation of the TFR cubit. Do the following:

R+  T2  L+  B+  F-

When done, the corner cubit is now correctly positioned but not correctly orientated. The T face color is now on the R face. The F color is on the T face and the R color is on the F face.

Note: if you did this with an already solved cube, reverse the moves without changing the faces:

F+  B-  L-  T2  R-