Rubik's Cube could be coloured in such a way as to emphasise the corners or edges, rather than the faces as the standard colouring does; but neither of these alternative colourings has ever become popular. The original (3×3×3) Rubik's Cube has eight corners and twelve edges. There are 8! (40,320) ways to arrange the corner cubes. Each corner has three possible orientations, although only seven (of eight) can be oriented independently; the orientation of the eighth (final) corner depends on the preceding seven, giving 3 (2,187) possibilities. There are 12!/2 (239,500,800) ways to arrange the edges, restricted from 12! because edges must
Rubik's Cube anticlockwise. Although there are a significant number of possible permutations for the Rubik's Cube, a number of solutions have been developed which allow solving the cube in well under 100 moves. Many general solutions for the Rubik's Cube have been discovered independently. David Singmaster first published his solution in the book "Notes on Rubik's "Magic Cube"" in 1981. This solution involves solving the Cube layer by layer, in which one layer (designated the top) is solved first, followed by the middle layer, and then the final and bottom layer. After sufficient practice, solving the Cube layer by layer can be