Rubiks cube

[EddieM]

it's only 18 moves from any combination.

What does this statement mean?

exactly what it says, from any of the combinations, you are only 18 moves max away from a solution.

That's not exactly what you said though However, given the speed of those who solve these little tinkers, it makes entire sense. Which begs the question as to whether a standard set of 18 movess will always work and indeed whether it is purely a routine of the intellect of the solver to identify and hence apply the correct algorithm.

Yes its a boundary limit, and yes of course it does. Seems very counter intuitive though.

 

[calorific]

Yes its a boundary limit, and yes of course it does. Seems very counter intuitive though.

Assuming your opening number of combinations is correct( - can't be mithered to check), it is indeed a bit odd to be within 18 variants of one of the 6 norms.

 

[Sombrero]

if you google it, there are more sites telling you how to solve it than there are actual ways to solve it.

I used to be able to solve it, you need to learn 5 or 6 'moves' - not sure where i got my script from in the 80's, but it's now in a box in the loft....

what i find amaznig is someone devised a move that will swap over diagonals, and work without upsetting the rest of the cube.... amazing maths..

 

[LastMagicBean]

but it's now in a box in the loft....

That's where YOU should be.

 

[calorific]

Ooh, vicious.

Here's one for ya - given there are 88 keys on a keyboard and given the limitations of a human hand, how many possible positions/chords/etc are there that a human hand can actually play?

 

[Sombrero]

but it's now in a box in the loft....

That's where YOU should be.

Yeah, thanks for that !

 

[LastMagicBean]

Here's one for ya - given there are 88 keys on a keyboard and given the limitations of a human hand, how many possible positions/chords/etc are there that a human hand can actually play?

What about the six fingered pianist.
Would that change the question???????

 

[calorific]

Here's one for ya - given there are 88 keys on a keyboard and given the limitations of a human hand, how many possible positions/chords/etc are there that a human hand can actually play?

What about the six fingered pianist.
Would that change the question???????

I was kinda assuming a typical 10 fingered pianist

 

[Sombrero]

Here's one for ya - given there are 88 keys on a keyboard and given the limitations of a human hand, how many possible positions/chords/etc are there that a human hand can actually play?

What about the six fingered pianist.
Would that change the question???????

I was kinda assuming a typical 10 fingered pianist

hmmm not a piarnist in a box in a loft? i musta not understod ! silly me.

 

[calorific]

Just straight up or down finger placement there are 2^10 = 1024 combinations, and that's without considering tone/semitone distance placements. And that's every time a player places his/her hands down, which might be several times a second