How to Solve a Rubik's Cube - Part 3b Answer - Swapped Edges

OK .

This is a response from a viewer who is watching the third step of my Rubik's cube tutorial which shows how to place middle edge pieces if I understood him correctly .

He had a cue very similar to this one .

As you could see , he had already placed the green orange edge piece in between the green and orange centers and he had already placed the blue red edge piece in between the blue and red centers .

However , when he went to go place the remaining two edges , he noticed that there were no pieces in the top layer in these four positions which did not have any yellow in them .

They all had yellow .

That's because the green red piece and the blue orange edge piece were already in the second layer .

However , they had been switched .

So the blue orange piece was in between the red and green centers and the green red piece was in between the orange and blue centers .

So this is very similar to the situation demonstrated in my third step where that red blue piece was flipped .

However , it's slightly more involved and I felt it was a good situation to post a video for , since other viewers might experience a similar situation , what you want to do is first separate either of the incorrectly placed edges on the corner piece that they are next to .

So we could start with either this piece or we could start with this piece .

It doesn't matter as long as you work with them one at a time , you want to fix them one at a time .

So let's start with this piece here .

What we're going to do is basically put them on the right side here .

You can also put them on the left , but I like to put it on the right .

So I'm gonna put it on the right and then we're going to perform a move similar to the one in the second step .

So I'm going to turn the right face clockwise , the top face clockwise and the right face counter clockwise .

So let me do that one more time .

I'm going to turn the right face clockwise or up the top face clockwise and the right face counter clockwise .

Now , what that has done is it lifted those two pieces from here to over here .

Now , to separate this orange blue white piece from this incorrectly placed red green piece .

We're going to place this corner piece down like we did in the second step .

So we want to match up this blue color diagonally with its center .

Now , the white is facing the left side .

So we do the move that corresponds with the left side , which is left up or counter clockwise , top towards us or counter clockwise .

So now we should see that white line and then we bring the left side back down .

Now you'll see that this blue white orange corner piece has been separated from that red green edge piece .

Now , what we're going to do is place this red green edge piece where it needs to go over here as you'll notice the blue orange edge piece is there .

So we're going to kick it out when we do that .

So in order to place it , you match it first with its center color , which it already is matched .

But if it wasn't , what we're going to do is match this color on the side , which is red with its center color , which is also red .

Now you hold that center and you see where this piece needs to be placed , which is over here .

So if it needs to go to the right , we're going to hold the center and turn it away from where it needs to go , which is to the left , we then look at the color on top which is green and we lift the green side while still holding that red center .

That's very important .

So we lift the green side up or right clockwise , then we turn the top face clockwise or towards us and then we bring the right face counter clockwise or back down .

And what that has done is it lifted these two pieces .

Now the red green white cent uh corner with the orange blue edge piece that is incorrectly placed .

So now what we want to do is basically place this corner down by matching it diagonally with its center .

And then we're going to place it down .

Since the white is on the left , we do that same move that corresponds to the left side , which is left counter clockwise or up .

And as you'll see this red green , white piece is now paired with its green , red edge piece correctly .

So I brought the left face counter clockwise or up the top face is now going to go counterclockwise or towards you .

You should see a white line and then you bring the left face back down or clockwise .

So now this red green piece is now placed correctly in between the red and green centers .

So now if we look on top , we'll see that we now have that uh that blue orange edge piece in the top .

So now what we do is we now we're going to place this piece down over here in between the orange and blue centers .

So we first match it up with its center color , which it already is matched .

But again , if it wasn't , we're going to twist the top until this color on the side , which is orange is matched with its center color , which is also orange .

We see that it needs to go in between the orange and blue centers .

So we hold the orange center , turn it away from the blue side by twisting the top .

Then we look at the color on top which is blue .

While still holding the iron center , we turn the right face which is blue .

We turn the right face clockwise or up .

Then we twist the top face clockwise and then we bring the right face back down or counter clockwise .

Now we'll see that we lifted up that corner piece which is now over here to place it back down .

We're going to twist the top again to match up the blue color with its center diagonally .

Now you'll see that that white color is on the left side again .

So we're going to do the move that corresponds with the left side , left counter clockwise or up .

And now you'll see that this blue white orange piece is paired with its blue orange edge piece correctly .

So I brought the left face counterclockwise or up .

We then bring the top face counter clockwise or towards us .

So that now we have again , a white line and then we bring the left face back down .

Now , if you did all the moves correctly , you'll notice that the orange blue edge piece is in between the orange and blue centers and the red green piece is now is now properly placed in between the red and green centers .

So now you should have a complete bottom two layers .

So I hope that that video proved useful if you had a situation that was very similar to what the other viewer had .

Any questions , just send me straight on youtube .