notation.html (4845B)
1 <!--TITLE: Rubik's cube notation--> 2 <h1>Rubik's cube notation</h1> 3 4 <p> 5 This page describes the classic 6 <a href="https://www.speedsolving.com/wiki/index.php/Singmaster_notation"> 7 Singmaster notation</a> for the Rubik's cube, with some commonly used additions. 8 </p> 9 10 <h2>Basic moves</h2> 11 12 <p> 13 Each of the six faces of the cube is assigned a letter: 14 </p> 15 16 <table> 17 <tr><td><strong>U</strong></td><td>Upper face</td></tr> 18 <tr><td><strong>D</strong></td><td>Down face</td></tr> 19 <tr><td><strong>R</strong></td><td>Right face</td></tr> 20 <tr><td><strong>L</strong></td><td>Left face</td></tr> 21 <tr><td><strong>F</strong></td><td>Front face</td></tr> 22 <tr><td><strong>B</strong></td><td>Back face</td></tr> 23 </table> 24 25 <p> 26 A single letter (like U) denotes a 90° turn <em>clockwise</em>, a 27 letter followed by a single quote (like U') denotes a 90° turn 28 <em>counter-clockwise</em>, and a letter followed by a 2 (like U2) denotes a 29 180° turn. 30 </p> 31 32 <p> 33 Basic moves are summarized in the following table (<strong>white face on 34 top</strong> and <strong>green face on front</strong>): 35 </p> 36 37 <table> 38 <tr> 39 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="u.png"><strong>U</strong></div></td> 40 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="u3.png"><strong>U'</strong></div></td> 41 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="u2.png"><strong>U2</strong></div></td> 42 </tr> 43 <tr> 44 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="d.png"><strong>D</strong></div></td> 45 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="d3.png"><strong>D'</strong></div></td> 46 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="d2.png"><strong>D2</strong></div></td> 47 </tr> 48 <tr> 49 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="r.png"><strong>R</strong></div></td> 50 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="r3.png"><strong>R'</strong></div></td> 51 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="r2.png"><strong>R2</strong></div></td> 52 </tr> 53 <tr> 54 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="l.png"><strong>L</strong></div></td> 55 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="l3.png"><strong>L'</strong></div></td> 56 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="l2.png"><strong>L2</strong></div></td> 57 </tr> 58 <tr> 59 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="f.png"><strong>F</strong></div></td> 60 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="f3.png"><strong>F'</strong></div></td> 61 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="f2.png"><strong>F2</strong></div></td> 62 </tr> 63 <tr> 64 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="b.png"><strong>B</strong></div></td> 65 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="b3.png"><strong>B'</strong></div></td> 66 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="b2.png"><strong>B2</strong></div></td> 67 </tr> 68 </table> 69 70 <p> 71 <strong>Note:</strong> "clockwise" or "counter-clockwise" is always 72 intended when <em>looking at the face you are turning</em>. This is 73 why from the pictures above it looks like, for example, U and D go in 74 opposite directions. 75 </p> 76 <p> 77 If this sounds confusing, think about it: if you put a clock face down 78 on the table, does it turn clockwise or counter-clockwise? 79 </p> 80 81 <h2>Full-cube rotations</h2> 82 83 <p> 84 Sometimes it is convenient to start a move sequence with the cube in a 85 different orientation. To denote this, it is common to use the "moves" 86 x, y and z that denote a full-cube rotation: 87 </p> 88 89 <table> 90 <tr><td><strong>x</strong></td><td>Follows R</td></tr> 91 <tr><td><strong>y</strong></td><td>Follows U</td></tr> 92 <tr><td><strong>z</strong></td><td>Follows F</td></tr> 93 </table> 94 95 <p> 96 The same modifiers can be applied, so for example x2 is a full-cube 97 rotation that follows R2 (or, equivalently, L2) and z' is a a 98 full-cube rotation that follows F' (or, equivalently, B). 99 </p> 100 101 <h2>Inner-layer moves</h2> 102 103 <p> 104 Moving two parallel layers of the cube, one clockwise and one 105 counter-clockwise, has the same effect as moving the inner layer 106 between them. We usually denote these inner-layer moves by 107 M, E and S. 108 </p> 109 110 <table> 111 <tr><td><strong>M</strong></td><td>Follows L</td></tr> 112 <tr><td><strong>E</strong></td><td>Follows D</td></tr> 113 <tr><td><strong>S</strong></td><td>Follows F</td></tr> 114 </table> 115 116 Or in pictures: 117 118 <table> 119 <tr> 120 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="m.png"><strong>M</strong></div></td> 121 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="e.png"><strong>E</strong></div></td> 122 <td><div style="text-align: center"><img src="s.png"><strong>S</strong></div></td> 123 </tr> 124 </table> 125 126 <p> 127 The same modifiers can be applied, so for example M2 means moving the inner 128 layer between R and L by 180°. 129 </p> 130 131 <p> 132 <strong>Note 1:</strong> unfortunately, the notation for inner-layer moves 133 is not consistent with that for full-cube rotations. For example x follows R 134 but M follows L. 135 </p> 136 137 <p> 138 <strong>Note 2:</strong> Inner-layer moves can always be rewritten as a 139 combination of basic moves and full-cube rotations. For example, M' 140 is equivalent to x R' L. 141 </p>