50 years of the Rubik's Cube: practical application of mathematics

Rubik's Cube. Who doesn't know it? A beloved toy and puzzle in the 80s. A favorite toy, especially at birthday parties. Will you get the Rubik's Cube out of the attic? The goal is to get the same color on every face. Can you do it? Do you know the history of the cube and its designer? This cube is already turning 50 this year! How time flies.

Before the story begins

Do you have this sheet from the Netherlands from 2015 with the telling title “Toys of Today” featuring the Rubik’s Cube on the stamp and on the margin? There was another sheet with the PostEurop theme “Old toys” with the international PostNL rate. Very beautiful designs.  

Rubik's cube

The Rubik's Cube is a puzzle in the shape of a cube, 57 mm high in the standard version. The cube is made up of 27 smaller parts, the visible sides of which are the faces of smaller cubes that are 1/3 the height of the cube itself. The central part, without a visible face, consists of a system of axes around which the centers of the faces can rotate. The remaining parts are ingeniously shaped so that each face of the cube can rotate relative to the rest. As a result, every corner piece and every side piece can swap positions with another corresponding piece. In the starting position, the six faces are uniformly colored in the six colors white, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The task is to rotate the faces so that the cube is returned from any position to the starting position with uniform faces. The cube was designed by the Hungarian Erno Rubik. Variants now exist with different dimensions, different numbers of faces, different colors, and also different shapes. The cube has already been sold 400 million times.

 

History

Erno Rubik (Budapest, July 13, 1944) is a Hungarian mathematician, architect, and inventor who is best known for his invention of three-dimensional mechanical puzzles such as the Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Snake, and Rubik's 360. His puzzles are sold worldwide. Rubik made the first cube in 1974 from 27 wooden blocks. At the time, he was teaching at the University of Art and Design in Budapest and wanted to create something to teach his students about algebraic group theory and possible movements in a three-dimensional object. Rubik himself was not sure if there was a solution, and it took him a month to solve the puzzle for the first time. Mathematicians later calculated that there are 43.252.003.274.489.856.000 ways to arrange the squares, but only one of them is the correct combination. He patented it in 1975, but exclusively in Hungary. Rubik enjoys no rights outside of Hungary. It was only when German game maker Tom Kremer started working on the Rubik's Cube in the early 80s that it became a resounding success and a craze among young people. Mathematically, the puzzle is also interesting as an application of group theory. Meanwhile, more than 400 million cubes have already been sold.  

Solutions

There are many book written about solving this puzzle. The clearest method is layer by layer: first, one face is completed, where the 12 adjacent side faces must match the color of the center faces of the four adjacent center faces. The second step is to place the four corner pieces of the middle layer in position. Finally, the third layer is completed by first making the cross at the top, after which the corner pieces of that color are placed inside. Next, those corner pieces are rotated into the correct position, and finally, the top edge pieces are rotated correctly. With this method, the puzzle can be solved within a few minutes, and enthusiasts can manage it in under a minute and a half. Using less clear methods, which however require fewer rotations, experienced players can complete it within half a minute. There are competitions to get the cube right again in as few turns as possible. There are also computer programs and websites that provide a solution.  

World record and championships

The first World Cube Turning Championships took place in 1982. This competition was won by the American Minh Tai, who solved the puzzle in 22,95 seconds. The 17-year-old Dutchman Guus Razoux Schultz came second with 24,32 seconds. Since 2001, the puzzle has been making a new comeback, and world championships have been held again since 2003. As of February 23, 2008, the competition record stood at 9,10 seconds in the name of the Frenchman Edouard Chambon, who took over the record from the Dutchman Ron van Bruchem, who turned the cube correctly in 9,55 seconds in Zwolle on November 24, 2007.

The average record over five attempts was set on the same day, also by the Frenchman, at 11,48 seconds. The Dutchman Erik Akkersdijk broke the Frenchman's record and improved it to 7,08 seconds during the Czech Open Championship. Akkersdijk had a bit of luck when he set his record, as he was able to skip the final step of the Fridrich method (the PLL step). On November 13, 2010, the then 15-year-old Australian Feliks Zemdegs broke this record: at the Melbourne Cube Day, he needed only 6,77 seconds to solve the puzzle. In 2011, Zemdegs improved this record several more times. At the Zonhoven Open 2013 on March 3, 2013, Dutchman Mats Valk took over the world record with a time of 5,55 seconds. At Doylestown Spring 2015, American Collin Burns set the record at 5,25 seconds. On November 21, 2015, this record was improved by 0,35 seconds by Lucas Etter during the River Hill Fall Competition. The record thus stood at 4,9 seconds. On November 6, 2016, Mats Valk regained the lead during the Jawa Timur Open 2016 with a time of 4,74 seconds. On December 11, 2016, the title returned to Feliks Zemdegs, who set a time of 4,73 seconds. After South Korean SeungBeom Cho sharpened the record to 4,59 seconds on October 28, 2017, Zemdegs managed to solve the cube in 4,22 seconds on May 7, 2018. During the Wuhu Open 2018, Yusheng Du from China set the world record at 3,47 seconds. On June 11, 2023, during Pride in Long Beach, Max Park set the world record at 3.13 seconds.  

Presidency of the Council of the EU (Hungary, 2024)

The Presidency is a rotating role that is taken over by a different Member State every six months. The Presidency sets the agenda for the Council and plays a key role in the EU legislative process by safeguarding the continuity of the EU agenda. In addition to planning and chairing Council meetings, the Presidency also represents the Council in relations with other EU institutions. It must therefore act as a fair and neutral mediator. The Netherlands will not be due to assume the Presidency again until 2029. Hungary held the role of President of the Council of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2024.

(The sheet contains 9 stamps, just as many faces as on a Rubik's Cube. The faces feature the EU logo, the Hungarian tricolor flag, and the HU24EU logo in the colors of the flag. A very successful design by graphic artist Attila André Elekes.) Hungary, a country with a difficult relationship with the EU, held the presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2024. Hungary does this in a year of transition, in which the implementation of the Strategic Agenda is accompanied by a newly elected European Parliament and a new European Commission. Topics such as illegal immigration, competitiveness, and demographic concerns are now in the spotlight. Hungary's emblem is indeed the Rubik's Cube.  

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Rubik's Cube: https://www.rubiks.com/ I wrote a Wikipedia blog post especially for Jan van der Wal. If I had used ChatGPT, I would have finished this blog even faster. But I am against the use of ChatGPT because it ultimately leads to unemployment among journalists and bloggers. Of course, Jan doesn't have to read my blogs. Fortunately, that means one less negative comment for postzegelblog!