Rubik's Cube Research Paper

It seems like, everywhere we turn there is another problem just waiting to take us down. We see all sorts of problems in our society, and lots of them may take years and years to solve. But what is really cool, is that all problems are possible to solve, but there is one thing you must have when solving a problem.
There are many problems in society, but a major one, is the Rubik’s Cube. Yep, that colorful puzzle that seemingly no one can figure out. That brings me to the first step; identifying the problem. The Rubik’s cube, the easily messed up colorful puzzle, that is not-so-easily put back together. The Rubik’s Cube was very popular in the 80’s, when the puzzle started appearing in stores across America. But there are some things about the Rubik’s Cube that you may not know.

The regular Rubik’s cube is called a 3x3x3 cube or just 3x3 for short, because it has 3 pieces on each side.

The cube may be harder than you think. It has 43 quintillion different possible positions, while only one of those positions is the solved cube. 43 quintillion may sound big, but really how big is it? Well that’s over a million, over a billion, even over a trillion possibilities. Say you have a piece of paper in a stack for each position of the cube. You split the 43 quintillion pieces into 728 different stacks, and each stack spans the distance of Earth to Pluto. Out of all of those stacks of paper, only one of those sheets is the solved position you are looking

for.
After the cube became very popular, and it started to have some major followers, the first Rubik’s Cube competition was held, a World Championship in 1982. The winner was able to solve the cube in a mere 22.95 seconds, Minh Thai, a Vietnamese student. After that world championship, the popularity of the cube died down for about twenty years.
World championships started again in 2003, after the internet helped speedcubers (people who solve the cube as fast as they can) meet regularly. The world championship is still happening now, the next occurring in 2017. The United States also has a national championship every year, and local competitions are held every weekend across the world. At these competitions, not only is the regular Rubik’s Cube solved. There are other types of cubes, not just the regular 3x3 most people know about.
There are many different types of problems, like how there are many different types of Rubik’s Cubes. There are 2x2’s, 4x4’s, 5x5’s, 6x6’s, 7x7’s, pyramid shapes, and many more. The most recent 22x22x22 is the biggest Rubik’s Cube ever made. The smallest 3x3 Rubik’s Cube is 6mm wide and across. Diamond Cutter’s International developed a Rubik’s cube made out of diamonds worth millions of dollars, for the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the cube. They used to give away Star Wars Rubik’s Cubes in cereal boxes. They have electronic Rubik’s Cubes that turn with the slide of a finger. Even with all of these cubes, can anyone solve them?
Really, anyone can solve a Rubik’s Cube, with practice, but there are thousands of people who go to competitions to solve Rubik’s Cubes. Over 45,000 have competed in official Rubik’s Cubes tournaments, held by the World Cube Association. People of all ages and experience compete. The youngest person to officially solve a Rubik’s Cube was two years old, who solved it in 70 seconds, and the oldest was 95 years old, who took 7 minutes. The fastest person to solve a Rubik’s Cube was Lucas Etter, who was able to solve it in 4.90 seconds. Cubestormer 3, a robot made of Legos, was able to solve the Rubik’s Cube in 3 seconds. But why do people solve Rubik’s Cubes? Why do so many people decide to solve it?
This is the purpose of the problem – why we should solve the problems we face. For Rubik’s Cubes, there are multiple reasons why you should learn to solve the cube and solve it regularly. Quoting Quora user Carter Moore, what you get from trying to solve the cube is “Spatial reasoning, Patience, An extended vocabulary, A good throwing arm.” Although this may be when first trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube, there are literal benefits to solving Rubik’s Cubes. The more you solve the cube, the faster can process thoughts. The person who was able to solve the cube in 4.90 seconds took only 40 moves to do it. That is over eight moves a second! Solving the cube also helps with memorization. In order to solve the cube, there is some memorization needed. You have to use a series of moves, called an algorithm, to solve the last steps of the Rubik’s Cube. You have to memorize these algorithms, which can easily be memorized with repetition. Personal Achievement – being able to solve the cube is really satisfying. Being able to say, “I solved the cube!” is a pretty awesome thing. Spatial Reasoning – As you become better at solving Rubik’s Cubes you develop a skill called spatial reasoning. With spatial reasoning and cubing, you imagine what the side of the Rubik’s Cube you can’t see. If I can see these pieces and colors on this side, on the side I can’t see there are these and these pieces and colors. Another major trait is hand-eye coordination; you have to track each move you make with your hands. That is very important, so you can make sure you didn’t make a wrong move in the flurry of moves you are doing with your hands. And finally problem-solving – In solving a Rubik’s Cube, you will always hit something new, and you have to problem-solve and figure out what to do to solve that part of the cube. The Rubik’s Cube is very good practice for thought processing, memorization, achievement, spatial-reasoning, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving skills. This makes the Rubik’s Cube a very valuable tool for mind training. But how do you really solve problems like the cube?
There are five ways to solve a problem. The first way, is doing it yourself, just taking up time. The longest time it took to solve the cube supposedly is 26 years. Just taking time can be the best option in certain circumstances of problems, like how we just have to wait for an ecosystem to grow after it has been destroyed, of course, the process could be sped up with help, but it does work. Secondly, just find a way to avoid the problem. Giving the Rubik’s Cube you can’t solve to someone else, or throwing it away, is a simple way to stop the problem, without much effort. If there is someone who acts like a bully to you, just getting away from them is a great way to solve the problem. The third way to solve a problem is to cheat. Sometimes, a problem is just too hard for you. You literally just have to cheat your way to success. In Rubik’s Cubes, it was very popular to peel the stickers off and put them in the right place, to make it seem like you actually beat the cube. It was very easy to do, and you could show your friends and family you did it, without actually doing it. Like how Lance Armstrong was able to win the Tour De France 7 times, with cheating. Of course, cheating does have consequences, but the immediate product is like solving the problem. The fourth way is getting someone else to do it for you. If you have a friend who knows how to solve the cube, just give it to them and let them solve it for you. That problem has now been solved. It is like how the Legislative branch creates the law (creating the problem) and the Executive branch has to execute that law (solving the problem). Doing research and getting help is another great way to solve any problem. When trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube, a great way to start is looking up a tutorial on YouTube for it. Most of the people who solve Rubik’s Cubes competitively probably figured out how to solve them by watching a YouTube video. Whenever congress can’t figure out how to execute something, they might refer it to some association or committee that knows more about the issue than them. These are all simple ways to solve problems, but there’s one thing you must do before being able to solve any problem.
You will not solve any problem without putting your mind to it. You have to want to do something before you do it. If you think, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” all the time, you can’t do that thing. Whatever you think will be whatever you do. If you think you’re going to write a book, you have to want to do it, before you can. If you really want to solve a Rubik’s Cube, you have to be patient, and want to do it. Every problem you face, you have to say, “I can, I can, I can.” You can’t go solve a problem that you aren’t interested in solving. It is practically impossible to do so.
The key to solving any problem, is as simple as putting your mind to it. It is just that simple. Just focusing on doing something is enough to do it. The chances of being able to solve a problem you face are colossal, but once you put your mind to it, you are more likely to solve it than when thinking you can’t do it. The Rubik’s Cube may have 43 quintillion possibilities, but so many people have been able to do it, because they put their mind to it.