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The Rubik’s Cube is a classic brain-training toy for all ages and has been applied in daily life. But did you know that this cube did not start as a game at all? The inventor of this game Erno Rubik was obsessed with finding a way to create a three-dimensional model.
In the spring of 1974, a prototype was created that was made out of wood and was then called the Magic Cube. In the 1980s this toy was picked up by a company called Ideal Toy & Novelty, and the name was changed to Rubik’s Cube. This Rubiks became one of the top-selling toying for over 40 years. The structure of the Rubik’s Cube is smart, simple, compact, and ever-changing.
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When was the Rubik's Cube Invented?
The Rubik’s Cube was first invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor of architecture, and it was initially known as the Magic Cube. The colorful puzzling toy was sold by Ideal Toy Corp to the masses and was given the license and permission to do so by the toy’s creator in 1980.
The toy made it to be awarded the German’s Game of the Year award which is an award that is given to only the best puzzles available in the world. Skip ahead to the year 2009, a total of 350 million Rubiks Cube have been successfully sold worldwide. This, in turn, makes the Rubiks Cube one of the world’s bestselling puzzle games, and on top of that, it is also considered to be the world’s best-selling toy.
Hence, it’s not surprising at all to see a lot of kids as well as adults to be playing with this toy. The first Rubiks Cube has a total of nine stickers with identical colors on the front surface as well as the other surfaces. Then, some improvements were made to the Rubiks Cube, and one of them is that plastic panels were used instead of stickers to prevent the colors of each surface from fading. Apart from that, the plastic panels were mainly used because they can be used to prevent the stickers from peeling.
Who is Erno Rubik?
The person that made the Rubik’s Cube is a Hungarian professor of architecture as well as a wood sculptor named Erno Rubik. He is best known for his puzzling inventions that include the Rubik’s Magic, Rubik’s Snake as well as the Rubik’s Cube itself. He started to become popular when he invented the Rubik’s Cube and most of his puzzles involve the promotion of science through fun and interactive activity in education.
The reason that lies behind the inventions of these puzzling toys is to make students be engaged in challenging science activities and develop a strong problem-solving skill along the way during the early stages of their life so that the future generations will be made up of a lot of intelligent individuals that are capable of solving problems.
It started as a humble block of wood and with a couple of rubber bands. Rubik was determined to create a physical structure that would enable his students to move each of these tiles available without accidentally tearing the whole cube apart. He initially prefers to use wood as his material of choice because there was a woodworking workshop available in his university at that time.
Apart from that, he chose to use wood due to the simple nature of the material that doesn’t need any sophisticated tools to work with. Once he has finished with the final invention of his learning tool, he then presents it to his students in his class and it turned out that they love it very much. Since then, Rubik’s Cube has been popularized by corporations and that’s how it made its way conquering the whole world.
Rubik's Cube World Record
By the time you read this, Feliks Zemdegs had successfully solved the world’s most popular puzzle. The 22-year-old Australian champion has just snatched the World’s Guinness Records title from SeungBeom Cho (from the Republic of Korea) for the fastest time to solve a Rubik’s Cube. He somehow managed to solve the Rubiks Cube approximately 0.37 seconds earlier than his previous scores, and it was solved in a total time of only 4.22 seconds which automatically makes him eligible to take the Guinness World Record title from SeungBeum Cho.
According to the World Cube Association, the official organization that handles Rubiks Cube competitions, Seung took 4.59 seconds to solve the Rubiks Cube puzzle.
However, just a few years after that, the title for the fastest time to solve a Rubik’s Cube was again snatched by Yusheng Du from China. He beat Feliks by 0.75 seconds, as his total time to solve the Rubiks Cube is only 3.47 seconds. The Chinese speedcuber successfully proved himself to be the one that deserved the title during the Wuhu Open 2018 held on November 24, 2018.
Despite this, the one that truly deserved the title of the World’s Fastest Rubiks Cube Solver is a robot made by the US. Two brilliant US researchers initially developed the robot to solve the Rubiks Cube in just 0.38 seconds.
Rubik's Cube Algorithm
A Rubiks Cube Algorithm is a type of operation that is used on a Rubik’s Cube to rearrange all of the pieces back to their initial state in a set of ways. In math terms, the Rubiks Cube is known to be a permutation group which is a type of ordered list that has a total of 54 fields each with its value (colors). These values can be arranged by applying some operations which consist of basic face cube rotations, cube turns as well as the combinations of these two methods to achieve one primary goal which is to arrange all the values in order.
To express each Rubiks Cube operation, we can use a set of notations that consists of letters that are used to mark every position of the Rubiks Cube.
Every face of the Rubiks Cube is marked with letters like:
- F for the front face,
- U for the top part of the cube,
- R for the right part of the cube,
- B for the back part of the cube,
- L for the left part of the cube,
- D for the bottom part of the cube.
The letter itself represents a 90-degree clockwise face rotation while the letters that have apostrophes after them represent a 90-degree anti-clockwise face rotation.
So, let’s say that the algorithm is F, R’, D, U2 then what you need to do is to turn the front face of the cube
- 90-degree clockwise, then turn it
- 90-degree anti-clockwise,
- then turn it down clockwise,
- and finally a half-turn of the upper part of the cube to solve the puzzle.
What is the Average Time to Solve a 3x3 Rubik's Cube?
A Rubik’s brand Rubiks Cube is not considered by many to be an ideal Rubiks Cube for a speed solving practice and it’s better to be used for recreational purposes at home. If you have the intention of becoming a speed solver then it’s highly recommended for you to upgrade to a speed cube instead as they are designed to be used specifically by a speed solver.
On the other hand, if you are just getting started and have the
willingness to learn more on how to solve every Rubik’s Cube puzzle, then you should just play around with the 3×3 Rubik’s Cube instead to save some money. The time it takes for each individual to solve a certain Rubik’s Cube puzzle may vary from one person to the other but the typical average time needed to solve a Rubik’s Cube would usually take around 2 minutes or more depending on the skills and the complexity of the puzzle.
If you are just getting started then don’t worry as you will become more efficient with each practice so keep on practicing to minimize the time it takes to solve the Rubik’s Cube. Once you have enough time sharpening your Rubik’s Cube skill, you will no longer need to think twice to proceed with each algorithm as you already have the necessary experience to predict the outcome of the algorithm that is going in your mind. Once you have reached this level, you will then be able to solve the Rubik’s Cube in less than 2 minutes like a pro. Finally, after you have undergone countless basic practices and challenges, you will discover some finger tricks that you can utilize to reduce the time needed to solve the puzzle from 2 minutes
to only about 1 minute or less.
Is Rubik's Cube Good for Your Brain?
There is a lot of benefits that are mostly linked to your self-improvement as well as mental health when you are engaging in the process of solving a Rubik’s Cube. One of the benefits of solving a Rubik’s Cube is that it helps you to improves your level of focus and configuration, as one of the key elements needed to solve a Rubik’s Cube is to have a full concentration on devising a working algorithm to arrange all the colors on the cube.
Hence, speedcubers that are already getting used to solving Rubik’s Cube tend to have a higher level of focus compared to ordinary people. Apart from that, other benefits of learning how to solve a Rubik’s Cube also help you to improves the level of your problem-solving skill. The problem-solving skill has always been the most important thing that you need to have for you to solve the Rubik’s Cube otherwise, you will never be able to solve it.
Besides that, solving a Rubik’s Cube may also help to improve the reflexes of the human body. Every speedcuber will need to memorize numerous sets of an algorithm to rearrange the tiles perfectly so when there is a sense of urgency kicking in combines with the data that you have in your memory, your fingers will most likely be moving fast according to the algorithm that you stored in your mind and that’s how the reflex of your body is improved. Next, it has been found that the people that are actively engaging in the process of solving a Rubik’s Cube tend to have a higher level of patience compared to non-cubers.
Patience is also one of the keys needed to solve a Rubik’s Cube effectively so it’s not surprising at all to see cubers remain calm when devising a plan to solve the puzzles of the Rubik’s Cube. In a nutshell, solving a Rubik’s cube can have a lot of positive benefits for the brain that people should take note of during their free time.
What is the Meaning of Rubik's Cube?
For someone to have the ability to solve the puzzles of a Rubik’s Cube means that he or she has already distinguished himself or herself from the rest of the people that have not yet solve them. This success even though doesn’t seem like such a big deal, is however a great achievement for the cuber themselves.
This is because, during the process of solving a Rubik’s Cube, the cubers without realizing it has managed to overcome a lot of challenges and obstacles that come in their way such as the puzzles themselves as well as the obstacles that lie within the cubers like the feelings of frustration every time the algorithm that they try doesn’t work out the way they expect it to be.
Hence, solving a Rubik’s Cube means that a person has successfully managed to improve a lot of things that can’t be seen by others but can only be felt by the cubers themselves. Solving a Rubik’s Cube will help them to learn that for you to get the things that you want in life, you have to earn your way through it as it doesn’t come to you by itself. You will need to work hard for it and feel the struggles along the way and only by a constant pursuit of success and consistent work will they be able to achieve the things that they want in life
How Much Does a Rubik's Cube Cost?
The current price of a Rubik’s Cube on Amazon.com is $6.87, and you will find other types of Rubik’s Cube that are priced at a slightly higher rate than this one. Other sellers tend to offer a Rubik’s Cube at $7.99 and higher as the price is often linked to the quality and durability of the cube itself.
Other types of cubes are way more complex than the 3×3 Rubik’s Cube, such as the Star Shaped Cube, the Pyramid Megaminx Cube, and the Smooth Triangular Pentagon Cube. These types of cubes are often a lot more expensive than the old classic 3×3 Rubik’s Cube due to the level of complexity these cubes have.
However, if you are just getting started, it’s highly recommended that you to buy the most basic one to play with, and once you can solve it effectively, only then should you consider buying other types of cubes that have a higher level of complexity compared to your old ones.
You should always remember that you should always buy the one that is more complex than your previous cube to avoid wasting your money unnecessarily. However, You can buy a new one with the same complexity as your previous one if the one you currently have is either damaged or completely gone from your possession. Always remember not to spend too much money on the same cube as the most important thing is your ability to solve it not to buy it.
Rubik's Cube Brands
There are numerous brands that offer high-quality Rubik’s Cubes in the market.
A few of the best include:
- Rubik’s: This is the original brand and the world’s first cube manufacturer. If you have a chance to get a Rubik’s Cube, it’s highly recommended. Experience the world’s most popular brand firsthand.
- Meffert’s and Oskar Cube: These brands are known for their high-quality products. Oskar is the first inventor of the Gear Cube.
- Tony Fisher Cube and Calvin’s Puzzle: These are some of the most reliable brands you can trust for quality and durability.
All brands provide the same core experience of solving the cube but can differ in quality. It’s important to choose a brand that offers the best quality to fully enjoy the cube-solving experience.
Rubik's cube color schemes
There are a lot of wonderful colors on each Rubik’s Cube tile nowadays, but the most popular set of colors being used worldwide is made up of six legendary classic colors, which are white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow.
However, other types of colors are also being used, such as white and black, and the color of the outer lining of the tiles differentiates one set of six tiles from others.
Colors like pale blue, pale oranges, pale yellow, and pale red are often used in Rubik’s Cubes manufactured in China.
They tend to have a slightly pale color compared to the ones we usually have in the US. Besides that, other types of Rubik’s Cubes use black, dark green, and pink as the primary colors of the cube to make it as attractive as possible for children to play with. Children are primarily attracted to the colorful objects they see near them, so putting a lot of beautiful colors to the thing that we want them to be engaging with would be the most sensible idea to attract their attention and ultimately engage them in a
beneficial activity.
The colors that attract children the most vary as each has an idea of what it means to have a beautiful object. Some are primarily attracted to bright colors like pink, red, yellow, blue, and green, while others are mainly attracted to dull colors like black and dark blue; hence that explains why there are so many colors in Rubik’s Cube that you can choose from in the market nowadays.
Biggest Rubik's Cube
The enormous Rubik’s Cube has a dimension of 6 ft 7 inches in width by 6 ft 7 inches in length and 7 inches in height. Tony Fisher initially made it from Ipswich, UK. He managed to finish this project alone without any help or support from anyone on the 18th of November 2019, and this is not his first time achieving such an accomplishment as he did manage to accomplish the first record in 2016 with a cube that measures approximately 5 ft 1.8 inch on every side of the cube.
The one thing that encouraged him to set a new record was the news he got stating that his previous record had been broken by someone else in 2018. He was disappointed, but at the same time, he was also flattered by the fact that he became the reason to inspire others to make something that big.
He got his first Rubik’s Cube in 1980 and was only 14. When he received his first puzzle toy, he quickly developed an obsession that led him to collect and solve other puzzles. That’s when he found his passion, and in the year 2010, he began to make tonnes of puzzles and videos that explain to the audience how to solve each puzzle correctly.
To this day, he managed to build the enormous Rubik’s Cube in the world, and it took him about 330 hours to complete his gigantic project. All the tiles move precisely like a regular one; the only difference is that the one he made in 2019 is bigger.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Rubik’s Cube can be such a tough nut to crack. Still, at the end of the day, all of your efforts and time will finally be paid off as you will get a sense of achievement and other health benefits that we discussed earlier that can only be felt by the great decypher himself. Aside from that, you will also be able to further upgrade your problem-solving skill by checking out other types of cubes that are way more complex than the ones you previously had. Always remember that becoming a great speedcuber takes time and effort, just like anything else.
Therefore, it’s highly recommended that you focus on your goal and put in consistent effort every day. Besides that, I also do hope that you gain plenty of beneficial information from this article, and I hope that this article covers everything that you need to know about the Rubik’s Cube as the main reason why I wrote this article is to provide holistic and valuable information that people could benefit from in the future.
