The Rubik's Cube From the history to the play

Table of Contents - Outline History - Invention - Inventor Ascent To Glory The Rubik's Cube - 3x3x3 - Other Designs Number of Combinations Solving the Cube - Methods - The Fridrich Method - Notation Competitions World Records

History - Invention Invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, in Hungary Patented in 1975 It was originally used for understanding 3D objects Sold by Ideal Toy Corp.

History - The Inventor: Ernő Rubik Born in Budapest, Hungary, July 13, 1944 Graduated from the Technical University in Architecture, in 1967 Architect and professor of Architecture at the Budapest College of Applied Arts Currently, he is working on video games

Ascent To Glory - Growth in Popularity Won the Game Of The Year award in Germany, 1980 Popularity grew worldwide As of 2009, it became the top-selling puzzle of all time with 350 million cubes sold! The World Cube Association (WCA) was created, in 2003, to organize competitions Several of these competition are held annually world-wide

The Rubik's Cube - 3x3x3 Standard, original cube design, 3x3x3 dimensions Colors: White, yellow, red, orange, blue, green Held together with a center 3D "cross", which the centers are attached to Consists of corner, edge and center pieces

Rubik's Cube - Other Designs Many other designs and dimensions, such as 5x5x5 or 7x7x7 These cube are manufactured by other companies, such as DaYan Many other designs are improved versions of the 3x3x3 Some rubik's cubes have different shapes altogether (triangles, flat tiles.etc...)

Number of Combinations 43 quintillion possible combinations! Number comes from 8! * 37 (corner pieces) * (12! / 2) * 211 (edge pieces) If there were the same number of cubes as there are combinations, the cubes would cover the Earth 275 times!

Solving the Cube - Methods There are several methods to solve a cube Optimal number of moves to solve is 20 The 20 moves are almost exclusively executed by computers who can make calculations quickly The Fridrich Method is very popular The Petrus Method and the Roux are also fairly popular methods

Solving the Cube - The Fridrich Method Developed by Jessica Fridrich 4 steps to completion Step 1: Cross. Step 2: First Two Layers. Step 3: Orientation of the Last Layer. Step 4: Permutation of the Last Layer. (Done!) Used for speedsolving, solving quickly

Solving the Cube - Notation "Moves" or rotations are classified in letters, for notation R = Right side, L = Left side (Always clockwise) R' = Right side inverted, L' = Left side inverted... etc. (Always counter-clockwise) Y, X and Z are rotations of the entire cube by axis

Competitions First World Championship held in Munich, March 13, 1981 From 2003, organized by The World Cube Association Mandatory to use a Stackmat Timer, a timing device Many types of competitions, such as blindfolded, underwater, using feet, fewest moves etc.

World Records Fastest time: 5.55 seconds by Mats Valk Best Average: 7.53 seconds by Feliks Zemdegs Blindfolded: seconds by Marcell Endrey One Hand: 9.43 seconds by Giovanni Contardi Robot: 5.27 seconds by CubeStormer II

Conclusion Invented over 30 years ago Quintillions of combinations Many variations of the cube and solving methods Dozens of competitions are held year-round Lots of Fun!!!

Any Questions?