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From: rshelby@ms.uky.edu (Richard Shelby)
Newsgroups: sci.math,comp.theory
Subject: Re: Rubik's Cube Problem
Summary: switching colors can make solution impossible
Message-ID: <13516@s.ms.uky.edu>
Date: 19 Dec 89 02:23:06 GMT
References: <5310@garfield.MUN.EDU>
Organization: U of Ky, Math. Sciences, Lexington KY
Lines: 17

In article <5310@garfield.MUN.EDU>, chris2@garfield.MUN.EDU (Chris Paulse) writes:
> 
> If I had a solved Rubik's cube, and the colors on each face were
> just stickers on the black plastic surface, if I exchanged some
> of the stickers, would the cube still be solvable in the normal way?
> 
Some switching of the colored stickers on cube faces makes solution impossible.
Rubik's cube has been used in lots of popular math columns, it shouldn't be
difficult to find articles.  It's also not difficult to treat Rubik's cube as
a set of n-tuples and then do proofs after determining the possible moves/
transformations.  Play around with it; I've used a subset of the trans-
formations to help teach logic.

-- 
Richard L. Shelby                    rshelby@ms.uky.edu
Department of Health Services        rshelby@ukma.BITNET
University of Kentucky               {rutgers,uunet}!ukma!rshelby