How to Solve a Rubik's Cube:

Notation

By Anthony Hsu

There are six sides to a cube, each designated with its own capital letter.

U = up
D = down
L = left
R = right
F = front
B = back

Next, a letter can stand alone, or it can be followed by an apostrophe ('), which we read as "prime," or a 2. For example, the move sequence R U2 R' would be read as "are you two are prime."

A letter by itself means to turn that side of the cube 90 degrees clockwise. If a prime succeeds a letter, this means to turn that side of the cube 90 degrees counter-clockwise (or anti-clockwise, whichever term you prefer). A '2' following a letter means to turn that side of the cube 180 degrees, which can be executed as two clockwise 90-degree turns or as two counter-clockwise 90-degree turns (Hopefully, you realize turning 180 degrees clockwise is equivalent to turning 180 degrees counter-clockwise.).

U U' U2	D D' D2	L L' L2	R R' R2	F F' F2	B B' B2

In addition, there are three cube rotations: x, y, and z. The x-axis cuts through the L and R centers, the y-axis passes through the U and D centers, and the z-axis traverses the F and B centers.

x	x'	x2

y	y'	y2

z	z'	z2

This is all the notation you'll need to know to solve a Rubik's Cube following my tutorial. However, if you want to learn some other cube notation, click here.

Back to the Method