AN INTERACTIVE EXPLAINER
How a Rubik’s Cube Really Works
Not just how to solve it — why it can be solved.
01 — ANATOMY & NOTATION
Three kinds of pieces
A 3×3 cube looks like 27 little cubes…
The 6 moves
Every turn has a letter…
02 — SOLVING, LAYER BY LAYER
Solve it like a staircase
The beginner’s method builds the cube one layer at a time…
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Step 1 · The white cross
Place the four white edges…
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Step 2 · First layer corners
Drop each white corner into place…
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Step 3 · Middle layer
Send edge pieces down into the middle layer…
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Step 4 · The last layer
Orient then permute the final pieces…
03 — WHY IT WORKS
A cube is a group
Every move is a permutation…
Every move has an inverse
Do R then R′ and nothing changed.
Commutators move just a few pieces
The sequence R U R′ U′ done over and over…
Parity: some states are impossible
You can’t flip a single edge…
04 — THE NUMBERS
Big numbers, small solutions
0
reachable arrangements
That’s about 43 quintillion…
20
God’s Number
From any scramble, solvable in 20 moves or fewer.
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Symmetries
A cube looks the same from 24 orientations.