Cubing
Throughout this website I will be teaching you algorithms that look something like this: F F R U' F' B' D2 L R' F B2
But what does this mean? First, you will need to learn a few terms.
Face: A face is another word for a side of the cube. There are six faces, the U Face (up), R Face (right), L Face (left), B Face (back), D Face (down), and the F Face (front)
Edge Piece: A piece that has 2 colors on it
Corner Piece: A piece that has 3 colors on it
Center Piece: A piece that has 1 color on it. These are in the center of each face, surrounded by 8 pieces, 4 edge pieces, and 4 corner pieces
Speed Cubing Notation may look like a ton of letters, numbers, and symbols, but it is is actually quite simple to understand.
When performing an algorithm, make sure only one side is facing you. This is important unless you are an experienced cuber.
A capital letter means a clockwise rotation of 90 degrees must be performed on that face. For example, R means to turn the right face 90 degrees clockwise. A capital letter followed by an i or ' means a counter-clockwise rotation of 90 degrees must be performed on that face. For example, L' or Li means to turn the left face 90 degrees counter-clockwise. A capital letter followed by a 2 means to turn that face 90 degrees twice, or 180 degrees once. If you didn't get that, here is a visual.
Notation
That is all you will have to know for the beginners method. For the Fridrich method, you will have to learn a few more moves.
A letter followed by a w, or a lowercase letter, means to turn that layer, and the middle layer adjacent to it, simultaneously.
M (meridian), E (equator), and S (sandwich), are called slice moves.
Slice moves involve turning a layer in between two outer layers, while keeping those layers still.
M turns clockwise in the same direction as the L face, E turns clockwise in the same direction as the D face, and S turns clockwise in the same direction as the F. face.
x, y, and z are called cube rotations. X means to rotate the cube clockwise on the x axis, Y means to rotate the cube clockwise on the y axis, and Z means to rotate the cube clockwise on the z axis. Here are a few examples, with the starting position as:
U Face: Yellow
D Face: White
F Face: Red
B Face: Orange
L Face: Blue
R Face: Green
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