Algorithms To Solve Rubik's Cube

10/23/21, 6:09 PM algorithms to s olve rubik's cube
algorithms to solve rubik's cube
I typed this up to show as an example of an ALGORITHM.

What is below is all based on Dan Brown's
youtube videos.
Notation:
--------
F = Front side of cube (facing you)
U = Upper side
L = Left side
R = Right side
D = Down side
green side = side with green in center
white side = side with white in center
etc...
center piece = piece in center of a side
corner piece = pieces at the corners
edge piece = not center or corner pieces
Algorithm Notation:
------------------
F = turn front side clockwise by 90 degrees
F' = turn front side counter-clockwise by 90 degrees
U = turn upper side clockwise by 90 degrees
U' = turn upper side counter-clockwise by 90 degrees
2U = turn upper side by 180 degrees
(clockwise or counter-clockwise...it doesn't matter)
R = turn right side clockwise by 90 degrees
(clockwise, as if you were facing it)
R' = turn right side counter-clockwise by 90 degrees
etc...
https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 1/12

1. Solve the green side first
> start with green side up
> find a green edge piece and move it to the Down side
> rotate Down side until other color on the edge piece
matches the center piece
> now twist side 180 degrees to get green edge on green side
> if it's all OK, move on to next edge piece
> if edge is in correct spot but flipped, do F' U L' U'

at this point, after getting all 4 green edge pieces in place,
you should have the green cross on top and all edge pieces
should be correct

> fix green side corners:
> find a green corner and get it directly under where it should
go (match the other two colors on the corner piece to the
other two side colors)
> with the piece you are working on in the bottom right corner,
do R' D' R D from 1-6 times (keeping the same face forward at all times)
> once that corner is done, solve the other 3
at this point you should have the green side done and all of
the first layer done (and all edge pieces matching their correct
sides)

2. Solve the second layer...
> turn green side down, blue side up
> find an edge piece without blue in it (see ** if can't do this)
> twist the top blue side so edge piece matches side color
> with that piece front and center, look for which side (left
or right) matches top color and do one of these:
top matches right side: U R U' R' U' F' U F
top matches left side: U' L' U L U F U' F'

> repeat for all edge pieces of second layer....
** if you can't find a top edge piece without blue in it, find
one that is an edge piece in the middle layer and make it the
front-right-middle, then do this: U R U' R' U' F' U F
at this point you should have two layers done!
3. Solve the BLUE CROSS....
> look at top blue layer for one of these cases:
no small L: do F R U R' U' F' to get small L
small L: make it top back left, do F R U R' U' F'
the "L" you are looking for is made up out of three blue pieces,
the center and two edge pieces

you should now have three in a row.
make the 3-in-a-row go left to right across the top
and again do F R U R' U' F' to get blue cross
> try twisting top blue side so two edge pieces line up
with their correct sides
if you can't get two lined up do R U R' U R 2U R'
if you get two lined up, and they are
across from each other, make the lined-up edges
the front and back sides and do R U R' U R 2U R'
(this should make the two lined-up sides adjacent)
if the two lined up are adjacent, make
them the right and back sides and do R U R' U R 2U R'

should now have blue cross on top and be able to twist
top to get all edge pieces lined up
4. solve the final 4 corners!!!
> check the corners to see if they are in their correct
locations (even though they may be flipped). You should
either have 0, 1, or all 4 in their correct spots.

if 0: do U R U' L' U R' U' L with blue cross on top
this should get 1 or more corners correct
if 1: do U R U' L' U R' U' L with blue cross on top and
correct corner as upper right of front face
this should get 4 corners correct, but you may need
to repeat this U R U' L' U R' U' L once
if 4: go to next step...

> with 4 corners correct (but flipped), pick a side and make
it the front, with a corner to flip in the top right
NOTE: always keep this front side the same during the next
few steps!!!!
do R' D' R D twice and see if that corner is flipped correctly
if no, do R' D' R D twice again
if yes, turn up face 90 degrees (U) and repeat with next corner (if needed),
always keeping the same front face (even though it looks like you're
messing things up!)

NOW TWIST THE TOP AND THE CUBE IS SOLVED!!!
Useful links

Dan Brown's Videos

www.rubiks.com step-by-step guide
www.rubiks.com videos
back to helps
Last Modified: Mon 26 Aug 2019 01:34:33 PM EDT

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10/23/21, 6:09 PM algorithms to s olve rubik's cube

algorithms to solve rubik's cube

I typed this up to show as an example of an ALGORITHM.

F = Front side of cube (facing you)

green side = side with green in center

white side = side with white in center

center piece = piece in center of a side

corner piece = pieces at the corners

edge piece = not center or corner pieces

F = turn front side clockwise by 90 degrees

F' = turn front side counter-clockwise by 90 degrees

U = turn upper side clockwise by 90 degrees

U' = turn upper side counter-clockwise by 90 degrees

2U = turn upper side by 180 degrees

(clockwise or counter-clockwise...it doesn't matter)

R = turn right side clockwise by 90 degrees

(clockwise, as if you were facing it)

R' = turn right side counter-clockwise by 90 degrees

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 1/12

1. Solve the green side first

> start with green side up

matches the center piece

> if it's all OK, move on to next edge piece

> if edge is in correct spot but flipped, do F' U L' U'

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 2/12

at this point, after getting all 4 green edge pieces in place,

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 3/12

> fix green side corners:

go (match the other two colors on the corner piece to the

other two side colors)

> once that corner is done, solve the other 3

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 4/12

2. Solve the second layer...

> turn green side down, blue side up

> find an edge piece without blue in it (see ** if can't do this)

or right) matches top color and do one of these:

top matches right side: U R U' R' U' F' U F

top matches left side: U' L' U L U F U' F'

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 5/12

> repeat for all edge pieces of second layer....

front-right-middle, then do this: U R U' R' U' F' U F

at this point you should have two layers done!

3. Solve the BLUE CROSS....

> look at top blue layer for one of these cases:

no small L: do F R U R' U' F' to get small L

small L: make it top back left, do F R U R' U' F'

the center and two edge pieces

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 6/12

you should now have three in a row.

make the 3-in-a-row go left to right across the top

and again do F R U R' U' F' to get blue cross

with their correct sides

if you can't get two lined up do R U R' U R 2U R'

if you get two lined up, and they are

across from each other, make the lined-up edges

the front and back sides and do R U R' U R 2U R'

(this should make the two lined-up sides adjacent)

if the two lined up are adjacent, make

them the right and back sides and do R U R' U R 2U R'

https ://www.cs .s warthmore.edu/~knerr/helps /rcube.html 7/12

should now have blue cross on top and be able to twist

top to get all edge pieces lined up