An Typical Rubik's Cube Encounter (Introduction)

When somebody confronts a cube that is already solved, they generally display one of 2 common reactions. The first is to examine these mysterious solved cubes with a certain level of awe. These people may turn the sides a bit, perhaps even making patterns like checkerboard designs or what some learn as "The Eye" (the outer ring solved on each side but with a different color center). However, people demonstrating this first reaction never go past what they know they can undo, fearful that if they truly scramble the cube, they'll never be able to return it to its pristine solved state.

The second common reaction is to scramble it and try to solve it again. If they are unsuccessful, the cube is left unsolved for the next fortunate soul to come across it.

"Why fortunate?" one may ask. Well, because once the cube has been scrambled, the spell of awe and wonder that holds the first group captive is broken, and there is no longer any reluctance to try whatever you'd like on the cube. You are free!

Though with a scrambled cube, you can choose to do whatever suits your fancy, most people begin by trying to solve it. The elusive solved state draws you like a moth to a porch light. With some finagling, you complete the first row. It's beautiful.

Then, you set about trying to complete the second row. This one is a bit trickier, and some people abandon the unsolved cube to the next challenger. But others, with enough time and some spatial reasoning skills, manage to complete the second row. The satisfaction is real.

Now comes the real challenge.

The daunting.

The formidable.

The seemingly impossible.

The third row........

Well, this is the part where most people get stuck. They try to align the pieces, but everything they get in place only seems to misalign something else. After more times than they can count undoing all their hard work on the first two rows while trying to bend the third to their will, they finally surrender.

But wait!

What if you could be the one to conquer this seemingly unconquerable feat? All you need, is a bit of math.

Yes, you read that right. Math. In fact, the Rubik's Cube is full of fun math. You can use math to solve the Rubik's Cube, but you can also use the Rubik's Cube to learn math! That will be the goal of this website. To allow you to explore the beautiful bonds between the Rubik's Cube and math.