Solve 3*3 Rubik's cube

I remember a summer when I was staying in my grandparents' house, I saw my cousin playing the Rubik's cube. As a kid who is only 10 years old, I was so curious about what my cousin was doing. I was amazed when I saw my cousin solved the cube, making the colors match again. When I took the cube from him, he said that I can shuffle the cube. I did, and no matter how I shuffled it, my cousin can always put those colors into place. At that moment, I couldn't figure out how he did that. It seemed impossible to me to know where to move those pieces and put all the colors into the place they belong. As a kid that has lots of curiosity and always eager to learn, I asked my cousin to teach me how to solve a Rubik's cube. Since we are close to each other, he said yes without hesitation. I remember it took me a whole day to learn the method. My cousin taught me how to solve Rubik's cube step by step with patience, and I try as hard as I can to understand and memorize the method.

When I started to learn the method, I knew that the puzzle was not as complicated as I thought. The person who came up with the method cleverly divided the puzzle into several parts. The first step is solving one side. After one side is solved, we put it at the bottom and work on the first and second layer. After two layers and the bottom side is solved, we solve the side on the top and orient the last layer. This method is called "Layer by layer" or "LBL". This method is the most basic method and most of the beginners get into cubing by learning this method first. There are other methods that are more advanced and allow us to solve the puzzle faster. Those advanced methods use some principle in LBL and create some variations which allow cube solvers solve the puzzle more efficiently. After knowing how the Rubik's cube can be solved, I was amazed how easy things get when the puzzle is broken down into pieces. By dividing and simplifying, solving a Rubik's cube becomes so easy that even a 10-year-old kid can pull it off. Since I solved the Rubik's cube for the first time, I have been playing Rubik's cube for 11 years. I am still amazed by the principle behind the method.

After playing Rubik's cube for a long time, I decided to take it one step further. I want to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube blindfolded. In the beginning, I can't imagine how can I solve a Rubik's cube without looking. When I thought about how I solve Rubik's cube with eyes open, I realized that it is quite impossible to keep track of every single cube when solving the first side, first layer, and second layer. Not to mention the steps after that. After some research, I figured out that I don't have to keep track of every single piece of the cube, I only have to focus on one piece at a time. To solve a Rubik's cube blindfolded, I only need three algorithms.(Algorithms in Rubik's cube is a sequence of moves that can swap certain pieces without messing up other pieces). The first algorithm I need is the algorithm of swapping two edges, the second one is the algorithm for swapping two corners, the third one is the algorithm for special cases. After memorizing the three algorithms, the rest is memorizing the pattern of a shuffled cube. The algorithms for swapping corners and edges can exchange the position of two pieces. (Let's say location A and B. ) We take location A as the initial point. We look at the piece on location A and figure out where does it belong, after knowing which location that piece has to go (Let's say it has to go to location C), we set up that location to location B and do the algorithm to swap pieces. After doing the algorithm, we undo the setup. Now, the piece that was on location C is now in location A, so we have to figure out where does this piece has to go (Assume that it has to go to location D). We set up location D to location B, do the algorithm and undo the setup. We repeat this cycle until all the piece is put into the right place. The most challenging part is memorizing the sequence, set up, and undo the setup. After the simplification, solving Rubik's cube blindfolded does not seem impossible anymore.

When I was learning how to solve Rubik's cube, I got an important idea. Every thing and every puzzle can be much easier if we know how to break it down and simplify it. This idea will definitely help me as a student, as a scientist. If we apply the idea of solving Rubik's cube to the scientific research and the problems that are waiting to be solved, we can achieve much more.