Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Rubik’s Cube is a 3-dimensional puzzle that contains 6 sides known as a face) and nine facets per face. There are 54! possible combinations of rearranging the facets, however, not all rearrangements are types of movements of a Rubik’s cube. The total number of possible movements in the Rubik’s cube is over 43 quintillion [2]. Due to the cube’s nature, many individuals find it challenging to solve. In this paper, we use a 3x3 Rubik’s cube to describe and introduce the concept of permutations. Although permutations are a topic of abstract algebra (or an advanced level of mathematics), they are described in a way accessible to everyone regardless of their mathematical background.
Source: Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review
DOI: 10.5195/pur.2025.88
Author: Kaylee Huber
Institution: University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Language: English
Subfield: Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409907696