Welcome to the Pre – Course Lessons

 

First of all, before we begin….

Congratulations, The fact that you are here, Shows your committment to my system.

For that respect, I thank you, And in return, You will receive no less.

So Let’s Begin….

Now if you Have not already purchased a good quality rubiks cube.

Then DO SO NOW,By clicking on the Amazon ad at the bottom of this page, or by returning to the introduction page.

Then return to this page..

Excellent…

Now that you have a Cube, You are ready to begin.

Rubiks Cube Architecture

To solve the Rubiks cube, you must first understand how it is made and how it functions.

The Construction of the cube can be described as the following.

The skeleton of the cube (as shown below)

This is the part of the cube that holds all the cubies in place, and allows for the rotation of the cube.

Cubies?.. What are cubies.

Cubies are all the individual cubes that connect to the skeleton to form the complete rubiks cube.

There are 3 types of cubies that make up the rubiks cube.

They are commonly referred to as “Pieces”

The Centre Piece, The Edge Piece, and The Corner Piece.

A Centre Cubie is defined by having only 1 coloured Face.

An Edge Cubie is Defined by having only 2 Coloured Faces.

A Corner Cubie is Defined by having only 3 Coloured Faces.

 

THE FACES OF THE CUBE

 To state the obvious, The rubiks cube, (Because it is a cube), Has 6 sides.

These sides From here on, Are Referred to as “Faces”.

So.. the cube has 6 faces and each face has a unique name by which we identify that face.

(for the purpose of this explanation, I will assume that you are holding the White face of the cube towards your chest)

The “UP” Face

Regardless of how you hold the cube. The “UP” Face is always the colour on top of the cube.

So if the white face is facing your chest, The “UP” Face will be the Blue Face.

The “Down” Face

Regardless of how you hold the cube. The “Down” Face will always be the colour on the bottom of the cube. So if the white face is facing your chest, The “Down” Face will be the Green Face.

Remeber this face is called the “Down” face, Not the “Bottom” Face. This is important to remember.

The “Left” Face

Regardless of how you hold the cube. The “Left” Face will always be the colour on the Left side of the cube. So if the white face is facing  your chest, The “Left” Face will be the Orange Face.

The “Right” Face

Regardless of how you hold the cube. The “Right” Face will always be the colour on the Right side of the cube. So if the white face is facing your chest. The “Right” Face will be the Red Face.

The “Front” Face

Regardless of how you hold the cube. The “Front” Face will always be the colour closest to your chest/Body.

The “Back” Face

Regardless of how you hold the cube. The “Back” Face will always be the face Furthest away from you. (the Face opposite, the Fron the face)

 

CUBE TERMINOLOGY

Cube Terminology, is (in a manner of speaking), A Language that cubist’s use to communicate with each other. Just like (For Example) Chess has a way of recording the moves of each piece in an entire chess game. So Does Cube terminology, And like chess. Cube terminology also has a “short  hand” version of itself.

The purpose of the Terminology is to accurately communicate (to another person/cubist) a sequence of moves made by the cube.

The purpose of the shorthand is to be provide a more efficient and faster method of communication, in order to describe moves made by the cube.

The Terminology and shorthand are as follows:

SHORTHAND       LONG HAND

U                       Up Face

D                       Down Face

L                        Left Face

R                       Right Face

F                       Front Face

B                       Back Face

1                      A Quarter Turn (Clockwise)

-1                     A Quarter Turn (Anti Clockwise/Counter Clockwise)

2                      A Half Turn

 

Orientation and Position

Now.. Really take the time to absorb this lesson.

Everyone has their own definition of what Orientation and Position Means.

Now, If you get this wrong, you will find you will have trouble solving the cube.

So Get it Right First Time.

Orientation : If i say to you “the Corner cubie is not orientated Correctly” that means. the colours of

the corner cubie are not matched up with rest of the cube correctly and the corner cubie needs to be Flipped/rotated so that the colours match up. does that make sense.

Position:  If i say to you “the Corner Cubie is not in it’s correct position. That means that, the

corner cubie needs to be brought into it’s correct place on the entire cube, before you can flip it.

So… You should now realize that it is possilbe for an individual cubie to be either in “Wrong Orientation and Wrong Position” Or “Correct Position, Wrong Orientation, it is also possilble for the entire rubiks cube to be in “Wrong Orientation” But never in wrong Position.

If i say to you “ensure that white face, is facing your chest” and you have the blue face , facing your chest, this is Wrong Orientation.

THE TURNS

This is the easy part. There are only 3 possible turns you need to remember.

Half Turn, Quarter Turn (Clockwise), Quarter Turn (anti Clockwise)

Half Turn: If i say to you “Turn the Front Face, Half Turn. this means Turn the front face

(clockwise or anticlockwise, it’s up to you) and turn it by 180 Degrees. the Shorthand representation for

Front Face, Half Turn is …… F2

Quarter Turn (Clockwise) : If is say to you “Turn the Front Face, Quarter Turn, clockwise, This means, Turn the front Face clockwise by 90 Degrees (or to put it simply, Half of a Half Turn). the shorthand representation for Front Face,Quarter Turn, Clockwise is ….. F1

Quarter Turn (Anticlockwise) : This is obviously the same action as quarter Turn Clockwise except ,in the

 Opposite direction. The Shorthand Representation for this is …….F-1

 

ALGORITHMS

For all you newbie cubist’s This is probably a big word. don’t let it scare you…

Why do we use the word Algorithm, Because “Algorithm” Is a mathematical term.

And a Cube is a mathematical object (Specifically, Geometry).

The rubiks cube is, Essentially, A mathematical Problem.

By Definition: In mathematics, computing, and related subjects, an algorithm is an effective method for solving

                          a problem using a finite sequence of instructions.

Or to put it really simply. When we use our cube shorthand to record our moves, and we record move after move, after move,

To form one long string of moves,We are writing down the Algorithm for that sequence of moves.

Example (random) F2/R1/L-1/F1/U2/L2  (This is an algorithm)

It’s good to keep in mind that some people like to refer to an algorithm as a “Formula”, If you like you can too.

But i will refer to it as an “Algorithm”

MNEMONICS:

Question: What is a Mnemonic?  (Another Really Big Word)

Answer: By definition, A Mnemonic is a Remembering Tool.

But i’ll explain it simply….

We’ve all used Mnemonics in our life, But no one told us what they are called.

When we were in school and we learned the planets in our solar system.

The teacher said Remember ther first letter of all the planets, and the easy way to remember it is (this was the Mnemonic

she used) “My Very Earnest Mother Just Sits Up Near Pop

Hence Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune PLuto.

Or Music Class… learning the musical notes, the ones between the lines were F.A.C.E , it spells FACE

the ones on the lines were E.G.B.D.F, the Mnemonic was “Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit”

I personally use Mnemonics for my cube students. to make the algorithms easier to remember.

And Keep in mind. FEEL FREE TO MAKE UP YOUR OWN, If it works for you , then use it.

I will however suggest some to use.

 

CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE PRE-COURSE LESSON……. NOW GO TO STAGE 1 OF THE COURSE (THE FIRST LAYER) – STICK WITH IT.

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