Friday, August 15, 2008

Rubik's Cube!! (What is it?+algo what??!+speedcubing)

"Rubik's Cube is a mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by a Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik . Originally called the "Magic Cube" by its inventor, this puzzle was renamed "Rubik's Cube" by Ideal Toys in 1980 and also won the 1980 German Game of the Year, special award for Best Puzzle. It is said to be the world's best-selling toy, with over 300,000,000 Rubik's Cubes and imitations sold worldwide." [source: wikipedia] :)
*Different methods have been developed to solve the cube with the use of algorithms.
***Hold up!!*** o_O
What are algoritms??

++ALGORITHM- It is formally a type of effective method in which a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task will, when given an initial state, proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an end-state.
**In other words, it is a sequence of instructions that when done in a certain number of repititions will accomplish a certain task.
Example of an Algorithm used on the standard cube:
Ri Di R D (right inverted, down iverted, right, down) -basic
+Right inverted- turn the right side of the cube counter clockwise as if the side is facing you
+Di- turn the down side of the cube counter clockwise as if the side is facing you
+R- Turn the right side of the cube clockwise" "
+D- turn the down side of the cube clockwise " "
When you repeat this 6 times, your cube will return to its original orientation.
To follow such algorithm, you must be aware about the parts of the cube, it's sides ,and the move notations. There are different representations used to indicate move notations ,but they basically mean the same thing.

Speedcubing- (also known as speedsolving, speed cubing or speed-cubing) is the activity of solving a Rubik's Cube or related puzzle as quickly as possible. Here, solving is defined as performing a series of moves that transforms an incomplete cube into a state where each of the cube's six faces is one single, solid color. Competitions are held around the world for speedsolving.

There are different methods of solving the cube. There is the layer by layer method (this is the one I use), the keyhole method, the fridrich method (As far as I know,this is the most commonly used method in speedsolving;however, you have to learn a lot of algorithms for this. And i mean a LOT.. not to scare you or anything :) ,Petrus method, Roux method.... etc. If you're a beginner, I suggest you learn the layer by layer method first :)

for more info visit:

or

rubiks.com

This is a repost but I added some extra details :)

No comments: