The first step to a Rubik's cube is solving the 'White cross'. This step is the hardest because it is intuitive and requires patience. We are going to be using the 'daisy method'. The white edge pieces can be anywhere on the cube. B’ move: Rotate the Back face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise. It is a lot of steps to memorize, but give it some time and you will have no problem knowing which step is which! Also note my cube is easy to spin because it has been used many times. If you are breaking open a new cube it will require more patience and tend to stick.
A basic algorithm for the cube will look like R’D’RD. The question is what do these letters mean?
Here I will describe and show each move that would be seen in a basic algorithm. I highly suggest opening this page in a new window for reference as you complete your cube.
Here we see our basic cube. There are 6 different faces of the cube we can move: Right, Left, Up, Down, Front, and Back. Each face can be moved in two directions: Regular or Inverse. The faces are detonated as followed.
Right (R)
Left (L)
Up (U)
Down (D)
Front (F)
Back (B)
Differentiating between Regular and Inverse is done as follows.
Right Regular (R)
Right Inverse (R’)
Image from rubiks.com
Therefore an algorithm that looks like R’D’RD means four sequential steps:
Right Inverse, Down Inverse, Right Regular (also just referred to as Right), and Down Regular (also referred to as Down). The steps are completed in order from left to right.
Now that you know the vocabulary, I will show you each basic move.
Right Regular (R)
R move: Rotate the Right face of the cube 90 degrees clockwise.
Right Inverse R’
R’ move: Rotate the Right face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Left Regular (L)
L move: Rotate the Left face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Left Inverse (L’)
L’ move: Rotate the Left face of the cube 90 degrees clockwise.
Up Regular (U)
U move: Rotate the Upper (Top) face of the cube 90 degrees clockwise.
Up Inverse (U’)
U’ move: Rotate the Upper (Top) face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Down Regular (D)
D move: Rotate the Down (Bottom) face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Down Inverse (D’)
D’ move: Rotate the Down (Bottom) face of the cube 90 degrees clockwise.
Front Regular
F move: Rotate the Front face of the cube 90 degrees clockwise.
Front Inverse (F’)
F’ move: Rotate the Front face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Back Regular (B)
B move: Rotate the Back face of the cube 90 degrees clockwise.
Back Inverse (B’)
B’ move: Rotate the Back face of the cube 90 degrees counterclockwise.
It is a lot of steps to memorize, but give it some time and you will have no problem knowing which step is which!
Steps To Solve Rubik's Cube Last Layer
Also note my cube is easy to spin because it has been used many times. If you are breaking open a new cube it will require more patience and tend to stick. The more you work with it the smoother it will become.