A Rubik's Cube seems like a block of 54 colorful stickers, but it's actually a clever puzzle made of 26 individual pieces. Thinking about the cube in terms of these pieces—not the stickers—is the first step to understanding how it works.

There are three distinct types of pieces that make up the cube, and each one moves in a specific way.

Let's break them down:

• Centers: There are six center pieces, one on each face of the cube. Each has a single colored sticker. The most important thing to know about centers is that they are fixed in place relative to each other. The white center is always opposite the yellow, blue is always opposite green, and orange is always opposite red. They define the color of each face.

• Edges: These are the twelve pieces that sit between the centers. They each have two colors.

• Corners: There are eight corner pieces on the cube, and each has three colors.

To follow instructions for solving a cube, you need to learn the language that describes its movements. This is called cube notation. A sequence of moves written in this notation is called an algorithm.

The notation is based on the six faces of the cube. You hold the cube with one face toward you. That becomes the Front face, and the others are named relative to it.

Each letter corresponds to turning that face. But which way? There are three main types of turns.

Here’s a quick summary:

• Clockwise (90°): Just the letter. For example, R means turn the right face clockwise one quarter-turn.

• Counter-clockwise (90°): A letter with an apostrophe (called a "prime"). R' means turn the right face counter-clockwise.

• 180° Turn: A letter with a 2. R2 means turn the right face twice (a 180-degree turn). The direction doesn't matter.

This system applies to all six faces, giving you a complete language to describe any move on the cube. For example, the algorithm R U R' U' is a famous sequence of four moves involving the Right and Up faces.

Now you know the fundamental anatomy of the cube and the language used to manipulate it. Let's test your knowledge.

With these basics in hand, you're ready to start exploring how to actually solve the cube.