In the 18th century, this 3D combination puzzle was invented by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture,Ernõ Rubik. Years on in the 21st century, the craze has been revived with purchases rocketing up.
On a Rubik’s cube, each of the six faces have six stickers each of one of the six colours - white, red, blue, green or yellow. Upon opening the box, it is possible to mix the colours up due to the fact it has an internal pivot mechanism allowing each face to be turned individually in two directions - clockwise and anticlockwise. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be returned to its original state with each face having the same colour for all the faces. When solved, white will be opposite yellow and the other faces will be in this order: red, blue, orange, green.
The Rubik’s cube has 43 quintillion combinations therefore, making it incredibly difficult to solve. However, recently, Rubik’s cube solvers have been using algorithms - a sequence of sets of movements - in which it is possible to solve the cube quickly. Many algorithms are designed to solve the Rubix cube without interfering with parts that have already been solved and therefore, can be applied repeatedly to the cube in different parts of it to solve it. Others solve certain parts but often have side effects to other parts of the cube. However, these are easier to learn and so are employed earlier on in the process when the side effects are not as important.
Currently, there are competitions all over the world in which people compete to solve the Rubik’s cube. The record is currently held by Du Yusheng in China in 3.47 seconds. There are also other records that also made its way into the Guiness Book of Records such as the largest number of people to solve the Rubik’s Cube at once which is 137 in 12 minutes. Despite being invented long ago, many still buy the Rubik’s cube and embark on the journey of solving it. It’s a timeless toy that will never go out of fashion and will continue to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
