Professor's Cube the Eastsheen 5×5×5 and the V-Cube 5 are designed with different mechanisms in an attempt to remedy the fragility of the original design. There are 98 pieces on the exterior of the cube: 8 corners, 36 edges, and 54 centers (48 movable, 6 fixed). Any permutation of the corners is possible, including odd permutations, giving 8! possible arrangements. Seven of the corners can be independently rotated, and the orientation of the eighth depends on the other seven, giving 3 (or 2,187) combinations. There are 54 centers. Six of these (the center square of each face) are fixed in position. The
Square-1 (puzzle) shapes are possible for the middle layer, there is a quick sequence of twists which changes the shape of the middle layer from one to the other without touching the rest of the puzzle. Once the puzzle has a cube shape, the upper and lower layers are cut in an Iron Cross-like fashion, or equivalently cut by two concentric (standard) crosses, that make an angle with each other. Like Rubik's Cube, the pieces are colored. For the puzzle to be solved, not only does it need to be in cube shape, but each face of the cube must also have