Template:Rubik's cube notation

There are several notations; please refer to this notation guide.

Briefly:


 * There are six sides to the cube, presented as Front, Back, Left, Right, Up and Down. They are usually referred to by their one-letter abbreviations.
 * In the isometric diagrams below, where a corner points out at you, you see the F, R and U sides. The F faces to the left.
 * Quarter-rotations of that face's layer default to clockwise. Counter-clockwise rotations are often referred to as "inverted" and indicated by &prime;, for instance, R&prime;. (The &prime; is commonly read as "prime", "apostrophe", "tick mark", "anti-clockwise", "anti" or "i" for inverted). Half-rotations (180 degrees) are indicated by the digit "2", for instance, R2 (meaning 2 quarter-rotations following the one-letter abbreviation).
 * To see what is happening on the sides of the other three colors, rotate the cube as a whole, described as rotating along the x, y, z space axis, all pointing out of the page. x is a cube rotation in the direction of R, y is U and z is F, but since this sort of move also changes the colors of the center-tiles, it is used sparingly.


 * Notations for slice turns or inner layer turns include M (the slice between L and R, same direction as L), E (slice between U and D, same direction as D, rarely used), S (slice between F and B, same direction as F, rarely used) and M&prime;, M2, etc. That is to say, M is the same as L&prime; R x&prime;.
 * Notations for double layer turns are Fw, Bw, Uw, Dw, Lw, Rw, etc. "Rw" is a turn of the right two layers; that is to say, it is the same thing as L x.
 * Pieces of the cube can be referred to using the F, B, U, D, L and R letters. For example, FUR is the corner piece at the intersection of F, U and R and UB is the edge piece between the U and B layers, or either of the corners beside it.