Recreational Mathematics

RECREATIONA
L
MATHEMATIC
S
-RUBIK'S CUBE
INDEX
• Introduction
• How its works..??
• Tricks done by the Rubik's cube.
• Concepts of mathematics used.
• Types of Rubik's cube.
INTRODUCTION
History
The Rubik's cube was invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik, a
Hungarian architect, who wanted a working model to help
explain three-dimensional geometry. After designing the
“magic cube” as he called it (twice the weight of the current
toy), he realised he could not actually solve the puzzle.
Erno Rubik
• 1977
The ‘Magic Cube’ is manufactured in small batches and became more and more
popular in Hungary during the late 1970s. Ernố Rubik realized the potential of
his invention. But – in communist Hungary in the 1970s, imports and exports
were tightly controlled. The answer? International Toy Fairs!
• 1980
Tom Kremer’s passion and belief in the Cube convinced the Ideal Toy Company
to distribute the “Magic Cube.” They wanted one important change… a new
name! The newly-named Rubik’s Cube’s global launch took place in 1980 and
the rest is history. The newer Cubes were half the weight of the earlier models
making solve times much faster.
• 1982
Rubik’s holds the first World Championship in 1982 in Budapest, Hungary on
5th June. Minh Thai (USA) was the inaugural winner with the result of 22.95
seconds.
HOW ITS WORKS..??
• There is a core. The core has six plastic tubes coming
from it.
• A screw (with a spring for better turning) holds one of
the center pieces on the core. That happens for each
of the center pieces. Each edge piece (in between 2
corners and 2 middles) goes underneath of the center
piece, to hold it in place.
• After all twelve edges are in place, each corner
reaches all of the way underneath three edges that
surround it, which hold each corner on place.
• Your finished cube looks like this..
TRICKS
The actual challenge of solving the Rubik’s Cube (or the pastime for some), whilst an entertaining and
impressive spectacle, is not all that the puzzle has to offer. Whilst most can’t even solve the cube to
begin with, there are many more sub-hobbies that were born involving the cube that even less people
are able to do, and also some tricks that anyone with a basic knowledge of the cube can do. Here we will
take a look at some of these different activities and algorithms that you can learn to manipulate the
cube past the simple puzzle that it once was.
• Extreme cubing
Solving the cube in extreme circumstances
while jumping out of a plane, underwater, in
a burning house or any other situation that
makes this task harder has become a trend.
• Blindfolded
Inspecting the cube then solving it with
closed eyes is really impressing, but this
skill can be learned.
• Illusions
The Rubik’s Cube has been used in a variety of
different illusions and eye-tricks over the years. Some
of the most popular include anamorphic illusions in
which a Rubik’s Cube is drawn in a way that appears
skewed and unnatural at first glance, but when it is
positioned in the correct perspective or in the case of
our first example, the mirror is placed in the correct
position, the once distorted art shapeshifts into a
normal looking Rubik’s Cube. Some variations of this
include the levitating Rubik’s Cube illusion and
standard anamorphic Rubik’s Cubes. See if you can
make your own versions of these incredible illusions
using the videos as references!
• Juggling
Another hobby that the Rubik’s Cube has
been incorporated into is juggling. Whilst
juggling in itself has been a fairly
impressive party trick for quite some time,
the addition of the equally impressive
Rubik’s Cube creates an amazing spectacle.
Rubik’s Cubes can be easily juggled in the
same way that small balls would be
juggled, however some jugglers take this to
the next level by solving the cube whilst
they are juggling it.
• Rubik’s Cube Mosaics (Rubikubism)

A spectacle at many speed cubing competitions, mosaics have
been made using Rubik’s Cubes in all shapes and sizes, from
ceiling-height images of faces to several thousand feet squared
mosaics that cover building walls that portray beautiful
landscapes. There have even been Rubik’s Cube mosaic
competitions as side events at previous WCA competitions,
and Rubikubism was formed from these artistic displays and
creations using only Rubik’s Cubes and their 6 colors.
CONCEPTS OF
MATHEMATICS
USED
Almost everyone has tried to solve a Rubik’s cube. The first attempt often ends in vain with only a jumbled mess of
colored cubies (as I will call one small cube in the bigger Rubik’s cube) in no coherent order. Solving the cube becomes
almost trivial once a certain core set of algorithms, called macros, are learned. Using basic group theory, the reason these
solutions are not incredibly difficult to find will become clear.
The number of possible permutations of the squares on a Rubik’s cube seems daunting. There are 8 corner pieces
that can be arranged in 8! ways , each of which can be arranged in 3 orientations, giving 3^8 possibilities for each
permutation of the corner pieces. There are 12 edge pieces which can be arranged in 12! ways. Each edge piece has
2 possible orientations, so each permutation of edge pieces has 2^12 arrangements. But in the Rubik’s cube, only
1/3 of the permutations have the rotations of the corner cubies correct. Only 1/2 of the permutations have the
same edge-flipping orientation as the original cube, and only 1/2 of these have the correct cubie-rearrangement
parity, which will be discussed later. This gives:
possible arrangements of the Rubik’s cube.

TYPES
OF
RUBIK'
S CUBE
THERE ARE TONS AND TONS OF CUBE PUZZLES AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET. SO MANY PUZZLES
HAVE BEEN MADE BY SO MANY PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD. ENTHUSIASTS CREATE THEIR
OWN VERSION OR PUZZLES TO LEARN AND PLAY WITH THEM.
Officially for WCA (World Cube Association) however, there aren’t too many cubes. There are a total of 11
types of puzzles for which official competitions are organized. They are:-
1. 2x2x2 3. 4x4x4
2. 3x3x3 4. 5x5x5
5. 6x6x6 6. 7x7x7
7. Magic Clock 8. Megaminx
9. Pyraminx 10. Skewb

11. Square-1
Thank you
A PRESENTATION BY
-SHREYA GANGULY MAT/19/50
-PARUL SHARMA MAT/19/76

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RECREATIONA

• Rubik’s Cube Mosaics (Rubikubism)

possible arrangements of the Rubik’s cube.

7. Magic Clock 8. Megaminx

9. Pyraminx 10. Skewb

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