Puzzle, Rubik's Cube
date: label: date made
content: ca 1978
notes: label: Description
content: This Rubik’s Cube, purchased about 1980, is an early example of a puzzle that was developed in 1974 by a Hungarian professor of architecture, Erno Rubik. It was originally called a Magic Cube but was renamed after the Ideal Toy Company took over distribution in 1980.
label: Description
content: The puzzle is shaped as a 3 X 3 X 3 cube and looks as if it is made up of twenty six visible 1 X 1 X 1 cubes, called cubies, together with another cubie at the center of the cube that is not visible. The puzzle was sold with each face of the cube (a 3 X 3 square) showing the 1 X 1 square faces of nine cubies that are all of the same color. The squares are white, blue, red, yellow, green, and orange. The background plastic of the cube is black.
label: Description
content: There are three different types of cubies that are visible: corner pieces have three visible faces displaying three different colors; edge pieces that lie between two corner pieces have two visible faces displaying two different colors; and center pieces display only one face. The twenty six visible pieces on the cube include eight corner pieces, twelve edge pieces, and six center pieces. The space at the center of the cube is taken up by a mechanism that allows the puzzle solver to rotate any face of the 3 X 3 X 3 cube. These rotations scramble the cubies so more than one color can appear on the faces of the puzzle. There are more than 42 quintillion (42 followed by 18 zeros) possible arrangements of the cubies that can be reached by this type of rotation. The object of the puzzle is to get the cube back to its original position after the faces have been scrambled so they no longer display only one color.
label: Description
content: While a rotation of a face of the puzzle scrambles the puzzle it cannot change the type of any cubie. That fact is important in the mathematical analysis of the solution of this puzzle, which involves permutations and permutation groups. Starting around 1980 many variants of this Rubik’s cube, including 2006.0061.01-15 and 2012.0091.03, have been manufactured. There are many books, articles, and websites about the Rubik’s Cube and other twisting puzzles that use the same or similar mechanisms.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Douglas R. Hofstadter, “METAMAGICAL THEMAS: The Magic Cube’s cubies are twiddled by cubists and solved by cubemeisters,” <I>Scientific American</I>, vol. 244, #3, March, 1981, pp. 20-39.
label: Description
content: Douglas R. Hofstadter, “METAMAGICAL THEMAS: Beyond Rubik’s Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows what else,” <I>Scientific American</I>, vol. 247, #1, July, 1982, pp. 16-31.
label: Description
content: RubikZone [Number of Combinations] website.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematical Recreations
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Twisting Puzzles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Diane Odgers
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1987.0805.01
label: accession number
content: 1987.0805
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0805.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: toy
label: Object Name
content: puzzle
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.5 cm x 5.5 cm x 5.5 cm; 2 5/32 in x 2 5/32 in x 2 5/32 in