Rubik's Cube for Beginners
Step 2: Insert First Layer Corners
Now that you have the cross, you are done with the edges of the first layer. In this step, you have to put in the corners. Just like the four edge pieces used to form the cross, the four corners have specific positions. Holding the cube so the cross is on the bottom, find a corner cubie in the top layer that has white on one of its three stickers. Look at the other two stickers of that corner piece to determine where in the bottom layer it has to go. Turn the top layer so that that corner is directly above its designated location. This is the start position.
You have to do this to all four corners. In each of these diagrams, there is a solved cross on the bottom layer. These moves should not be considered algorithms. Do these moves slowly and watch carefully to see how the corner gets placed in.
| State 1 | State 2 | State 3 | State 4 | State 5 |
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| To insert corner: F' U' F |
To insert corner: R U R' |
To state 2: R U2 R' U' |
To state 2: R U R' U' |
To state 1: F' U' F U |
If a corner is in the wrong place in the D layer insert the correct one to get it out. If they are all in the wrong place, insert any corner in to get one out.
When you are done, your cube should look like this:
Explanation
States 1 and 2 are the main states of this algorithm. Once you have the white sticker on the side (and not on the top) you can put it in very easily. We can watch what the move sequence does, one move at a time. Here, it is shown with State 1.
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| Starting position | First we do F' to bring up the bottom edge. | Note that the corner we are working with stays on the top layer. At this point, we see that a simple turn of the top layer U' connects the corner and the edge properly | Then we just put everything back with F |