3x3x1 cube: Notation
The 3x3x1 is a cuboid, called Floppy Cube, and is based on a 3x3x3 cube. The axis is fixed, so the centres (and therefore the faces) are defined. In this type of cuboids the moves are always
180 degrees.
Faces
The faces are the surfaces with several stickers. Floppies have 6 faces, two of which have 9 stickers and the rest have three stickers each. In this guide the F face will be one
three-stickers face and the algorithms are based on that.
Pieces
In the Floppy cube there are three types of pieces: Centres, Edges and Corners.
Centres
Unlike a 3x3x3 cube, in this case there are only 2 centre pieces, with one sticker each. They are located in the 9-sticker faces, called U and D.
Edges
They are different from the 3x3x3 edge pieces, since in this case each edge has 3 stickers.
Corners
They are different from the 3x3x3 corner pieces, since in this case each corner has 4 stickers.
Matrix notation
In this cuboid matrix notation is very useful because the pieces are different. We have to name the pieces with their row and column. We will write:
(x, y)
where x indicates rows and y indicates columns. For instance, the piece (2,3) is the one placed in row 2, column 3.
Turns
Turns are the moves the pieces make. In the 3x3x1 the only possible turns are double (180º). Since there are some Floppy models (the Super Floppy Cube) that can turn 90º without blocking the
cuboid, we will still write the letters with a number 2 (i.e., F2, R2, L2, etc.) to indicate the move.
