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Cubes and Dice

What is Dice ?
A dice is small cube which has side having different number of placed
on it
The six faces in the cube are– ABCG, GCDE, DEFH, BCDH, AGEF and
ABHF.
1. Four faces are adjacent to one face
2. There are pairs of opposing faces e.g. Opposite of DEFH is ABCG and
so on
3. CDEG is the upper face of the cube
4. ABHF is the bottom face of the cube

Important Facts:
1. A cube has 6 square faces or sides
2. A cube has 8 points (vertices)
3. A cube has 12 edges
4. Only 3 sides of a cube are visible at a time (known as “Joint Sides”) and these sides can never be
on the opposite side of each other
5. Things that are shaped like a cube are often referred to as ‘cubic’
6. Most dice are cube shaped, with the numbers 1 to 6 on the different faces.

Type of Dice:
1. Base Dice
2. Open Dice

Base Dice has two Type :

1. Standard Dice
2. Ordinary Dice

What is Standard dice ?

 If a two dices no number are match each
other then it is a standard dice.
 Both the dices having number are not
matching So we can call it standard dice.

What is Ordinary Dice ?

 If a number of two dice are matched, then it is
called an ordinary dice.
 Here we see the two dice, In first one having
number 2,3,4 and the second dice having
number 3,5,6. Here we say the number 3
are matched. So it is a Ordinary dice.

Rules 1:
 If there is one element is common in both
dices also having the same surface then the
remaining surface of both dice opposite to
each other.
 Here is two dices and both the dices having
number 4 which has same surface. So
according to the rule if both dices also having
the same surface and also similar number then the
remaining surface of both dice 3,5 and 1,2 are opposite to each other. we can say according to
rule 2 is opposite to 5 and 1 is opposite to 3.

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Rule 2:
 If two numbers are same in both dices whether
there surface are no equal, then the
remaining number of both dice are opposite
to each other.
 Here we see that there are two dices and In
this dices 6,2 are similar but you can see
that 3, 5 are dissimilar. It means 5,3 are
opposite to each other, If ask about the
opposite of 2 and 6 then the answer is can’t be
determine because 2 & 6 are similar in both so there are no possible to determine.

Rule 3:
If there is one element common in both the dices
having different surface then rotate it in
clockwise direction to find out the opposite
surface.

According to this rule there are two dices as

we see 2 is common in both the dices but
there surface are different so to find out the
opposite of 5 & 6, we need to do some
steps. At first we do mark similar common
number in both the dices then rotate in clock wise
direction.
 As we see after rotating it in clockwise direction first 6 is appear then 5 is appear. So, 6 is
opposite to 4.
 In second dices after rotating in clockwise direction 4 is appear first then 1 is appear. So, 5 is
opposite to 1.
Note : After rotating in clockwise direction 6 & 4 become first appearance So these are opposite to
each other. 5 & 1 are appear in second one So, these one opposite each other.

Open Dice

Rule 1:
E & F are always opposite to each other and any type of open dice whether it is B & F, B & F OR c
& D etc. These to surfaces are always opposite to each other.
Rule 2:
These two A & C there surfaces are not touches each other so, there are opposite to each other.
Rule 3:
Here we see B & D are not touching each other surfaces So, B & D opposite to each other.
 E opposite to F
 A opposite to C
 B opposite to D

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Deconstructing a cube:
When we are given a dice it is somewhat
difficult to visualize it in 3-D so what we
do is that we flatten the cube. We can
form a cube that has been flattened
where we can visualize, the square at
the farthest end will give the top of the
cube and the square that is the middle
will form the base of the given dice. The
given figures below can help you
understand the theory stated above.
The rest of the square will give the
adjacent sides of the dice. Note that we
have to clearly visualize the adjacent
sides and we have to figure out what
exactly the question is asking. The
flattening of dice is the easiest way that
we can use to solve the dice problems.

Cuts & Pieces

If a person cuts a piece of cube along any of its
dimension then he gets two pieces. Now if someone
makes ‘N’ number of cuts along its length then there will
‘N + 1’ number of pieces coming out of the original cube.
To generalize we can say, to have a certain number of
pieces (P) along a specific dimension there should one
fewer (P – 1) number of cuts required.
if we have ‘L’ number of cuts along length, ‘B’ number of
cuts along breadth and ‘H’ number of cuts along height
then the number of pieces along these dimensions
would be ‘L + 1’, ‘B + 1’ and ‘H + 1’ respectively.
Hence, total number of pieces would be (L + 1) (B + 1)
(H + 1).

MINIMUM NUMBER OF PIECES WITH A GIVEN TOTAL

NUMBER OF CUTS
When we are given total number of cuts, the cuts can be
made in any axis. Say if we make total 12 cuts, all 12 can
be in x-axis, or 6 in x and 6 in y-axis etc. For a given
number of cuts, we can have a number of combinations.
We get the minimum number of pieces when all the cuts
are made in the same axis. If we make all 12 cuts along x-axis, total 13 pieces are formed. All other
combinations will result in more than 13 pieces. Let’s say, 11 cuts along x-axis and 1 cut along y.
The total number of pieces formed is (11+1)*(1+1) = 24.

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PIECES WITH A GIVEN TOTAL NUMBER OF CUTS

In order to get maximum number of pieces with given number of cuts, divide the total cuts equally
among the three axis. If we divide 12 cuts equally among the three axis, we get 4 cuts in each axis
resulting in (4+1)*(4+1)*(4+1) = 125 pieces overall. But what if the total number of cuts cannot be
divided equally among the three axis. For a number like 14, we cannot distribute equally among all
thethree axis. In such case, to maximize the total number of pieces, we need to minimize the
difference between the number of cuts in any two axis is minimum. For 14 cuts, we can divide
it as X = 5, Y = 5, Z = 4. Any other combination of numbers will result in a lower number of pieces.
If we analyze, we see that in case of equal cuts, the difference between the numbers of cuts is zero
that results in the maximum number of pieces.

NUMBER OF CUTS FROM TOTAL NUMBER OF PIECES GIVEN

The question can also mention the total number of pieces formed after a certain number of cuts. We
need to find the number of cuts in different axis based upon the requirement of the question.
Suppose, a cube is cut into 10 pieces. Now 10 = (X+1)*(Y+1)*(Z+1). Now 10 is to be
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represented as the product of 3 numbers or factors. We can have, 10 = 1*1*10 or 1*2*5.
Minimum numbers of cuts is obtained if we factorize the number of pieces into three equal factors.
If three equal factors are not possible, then we should minimize the difference between the
numbers.In case of 10 pieces, 1*2*5 gives minimum difference between factors.
To maximize the total number of cuts, all the cuts are made in one axis. For instance, for 10 pieces,
factors are 10*1*1 that means the x-axis cuts are 9 and no cut is made in other two axis.

PAINTING THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE CUBE AFTER CUTTING

The most common type of cube question is painting the faces of the
cube. Let us say, a cube is painted black, then it is cut into 64 pieces by
3 cuts in each directions. As we can see, there are 4 rows of 16 pieces
(small cubes) each. Few conclusions from the figure
1. Number of cubes with 3 faces painted black = all the corner cubes
which is equal to 8 cubes.
2. Number of cubes with exactly 2 faces painted = (n-2)*(number of
edges) = (4-2)*(12) = 24.
3. Number of cubes with exactly 1 face painted red = cubes on the faces
(except on the edge and the corner) = (n – 2)2*6=24
4. Number of cubes with 0 faces painted black = (n-2)3 = 8
The number of cubes that remain unaffected with the painting are those, which are not on the
outer side. In other words, if we remove the outer painted shell then the inner structure is what we
desire or we reduce the dimension of the cube by 2 units (remove a painted layer from all the sides
or faces) to get a inner cube of side dimension = n-2 units.
If the number of cuts are not equal, let’s say if X =5, Y = 6, Z = 7, then:
1. Number of cubes with 3 faces painted black = all the corner cubes which is equal to 8 cubes.
2. Number of cubes with exactly 2 faces painted = (X-2)*4 + (Y-2)*4 + (Z-2)*4 {since 4 edges will
have each of (X-2),(Y-2),(Z-2)}= 12 + 16 + 20 = 48.
3. Number of cubes with exactly 1 face painted red = cubes on the faces (except on the edge and
the corner) = 2*[(X-2)(Y-2) + (Y-2)(Z-2) + (X-2)(Z-2)] = 2*(12 + 20 +15) = 94
4. Number of cubes with 0 faces painted black = the inner cuboid = (X-2)*(Y-2)*(Z-2)= 3*4*5 = 60

IF FACES ARE PAINTED WITH A DIFFERENT COLOR

In the previous case, we saw the case when all the faces
are painted with the same color. The question can also
paint faces with a different color. Let us say the three pair
of adjacent faces are painted with with Red, Blue and
Green respectively. The cube is cut into 64 identical
cubes with identical number of cuts along the three axis.

We make the following observations:

1. Number of cubes with all the three color faces = 2
cubes diagonally opposite to each other.
2. Number of cubes with only same color faces on two
faces = three edges without corner cubes = 3*(n-2) = 6
3. Total cubes on the edges = 4*n + 8*(n-2) = 32
4. Number of cubes with only 2 color faces = total cubes on edges – same color on two faces cubes
– all three color face cubes = (3) – (2) = 32 – 6 – 2 = 24
5. From the above observation, we can say cubes with only Red and Green faces or only blue and
green = 24/3 = 8
6. Number of cubes with exactly one face red = cubes on the two faces of the painted red surface =
2*(n-2)2 = 8
7. Number of cubes with faces only red = (2)/3 + (6) = (n-2) + 2*(n-2)2 = 10
8. Number of cubes with exactly one face painted = 6 faces with (n-2)2 cubes painted on one face =
6*(n-2)2 = 150.
9. Number of cubes with exactly two surfaces painted with different colors = 9 edges with (n-2)
cubes = 9*(n-2) = 18
It is a useful approach to make the cube diagram on the paper while solving the question. Cube is a 3-
D figure and becomes challenging while solving without a figure, hence it is highly recommended that
you make a cube figure while solving the cube questions.

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Cubes can also be painted like opposite sides with similar colors or each layer with a different layer.
The approach to every kind of question depends upon visualization of the figure. The 2-D diagram
would assist a lot in solving but one needs to think more on the three faces hidden in the figure.
Cube, being a symmetrical figure allows us to think in symmetrical terms in majority of the
questions.
Example 1: A cube having a side of 6 cm is painted red on all the faces and
then cut into smaller cubes of 1 cm each. Find the total number of
smaller cubes so obtained.
Solution:
As explained above, the number of smaller cubes = (6/1)3 = 216 smaller
cubes.
(Here x=6 and y=1)

Example 2: In the above example, how many cubes will have three faces
painted?
Solution: As explained above, only the corner cubes i.e. the 8 cubes at the corners of the
original cube will have three faces painted. Hence the answer will be 8 only.
To find the number of smaller cubes with only 2 faces painted, you need to consider the cubes
where 2 faces of the bigger cube meet, i.e. the edges. Remember, this includes the cubes present at
the corners as well, so you need to remove those 2 cubes from the number of cubes on each edge.

Example 3: In the above example, how many cubes will have only two faces painted?
Solution: As discussed above, only the cubes at the edge of the bigger cube can have two faces
painted.
The larger cube has 6 cm edge and smaller cube is 1 cm edge. Hence, there are 6 cubes on each
edge. However, you need to consider 4 middle cubes only, as the 2 cubes on each corner will have 3
painted faces.
Hence, there are 4 such cubes on each edge. As there are 12 edges, there will be 4*12 = 48 cubes
.
Example 4: In the above example, how many cubes will have only one face and no side painted?
Solution: As discussed above, only the cubes at the face of the bigger cube can have only one
painted face. Since the larger cube has 6 cm edge and smaller cube is 1 cm edge, hence, if you see
one of the faces of the larger cube, you will see 6*6 = 36 cubes. Out of these, exclude the cubes
which lie on the edges, as they have two or more faces which are painted. Thus, on each face of the
original cube, there will be 4*4 = 16 cubes will have only one face painted.
As there are 6 such faces, the number of such smaller cubes will be 16*6 = 96.
Lastly, the number of cubes having no faces painted can be found by subtracting the sum of the
painted cubes from the total number of smaller cubes. Therefore, the required answer is 216 – (8 +
48 + 96) = 64 cubes.

Example 5: A cube having an edge of 12 cm each. It is painted red on two opposite faces, blue on
one other pair of opposite faces, black on one more face and one face is left unpainted. Then it is
cut into smaller cubes of 1 cm each. Answer the following questions:
 The total no. of smaller cubes/
 The no. of smaller cubes which are having three-faces painted.
 The no. of smaller cubes which are having two-faces painted.
 The no. of smaller cubes which are having one-face painted.
 The no. of smaller cubes which are having zero-face painted.
Solution:

 Total number of cubes= (12*12*12)/(1*1*1)=1728

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 For a cube with all sides painted we have 8 cubes with 3 sides colored. But here we have 1 side
unpainted. Therefore, we will have only 4 cubes with 3 sides painted. The other 4 cubes will
have only 2 sides painted.

 For 2 sides painted, we look for the edges.

A cube has 12 edges.
8 edges, each edge having 10 cubes will have 2 sides painted. (4 edges of an unpainted side
won’t be included).
We'll also include those 4 cubes (which we didn’t count while counting 3 coloured sides, as they
have 2 sides painted)
Cubes on 4 edges of the unpainted side of the cube will have 1 side painted (due to the
unpainted side).
Therefore, total cubes with 2 sides painted= 8*10 + 4= 84 cubes.
 For 1 side painted, we look for the faces of the cube.
A cube has 6 faces.
5 faces each having (12-2)*(12-2) = 100 cubes will have one side painted.
We’ll have to include those cubes on the edges linked with an unpainted face.
10 cubes on each of those edges will have 1 side painted.
Therefore, total cubes with 1 side painted= 5*100 + 4*10 = 540 cubes.
 According to the formula, cubes with no side painted= (12-2) ^3= 1000.
But we have to include the cubes from the unpainted side too. It will be 10*10=100
So, total number of unpainted cubes= 1000+100=1100.

Shortcut Formulae
 For a cube of side n*n*n painted on all sides which is uniformly cut into smaller cubes of
dimension 1*1*1,
 Number of cubes with 0 side painted= (n-2) ^3
 Number of cubes with 1 sides painted =6(n - 2) ^2
 Number of cubes with 2 sides painted= 12(n-2)
 Number of cubes with 3 sidess painted= 8(always)
 For a cuboid of dimension a*b*c painted on all sides which is cut into smaller cubes of
dimension 1*1*1,
 Number of cubes with 0 side painted= (a-2) (b-2) (c-2)
 Number of cubes with 1 sides painted =2[(a-2) (b-2) + (b-2)(c-2) + (a-2)(c-2) ]
 Number of cubes with 2 sides painted= 4(a+b+c -6)
 Number of cubes with 3 sidess painted= 8

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 Exercise

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34. A cuboidal block of 6cm is cut up into an 37. If the volumes of two cubes are in the ratio
exact number of equal 27 : 1, the ratio of their edges is :
cubes. The least possible number of cubes will (a) 1 : 3 (b) 1 : 27
be: (c) 3 : 1 (d) 27 : 1
(a) 6 (b) 9
(c) 24 (d) 30 38. A cube is cut in two equal parts along a
plane parallel to one of its faces. One piece is
35. A large cube is formed from the material then coloured red on the two larger faces and
obtained by melting three smaller cubes of 3, green on the remaining, while the other is
4 and 5 cm side. What is the ratio of the total coloured green on two smaller adjacent faces
surface areas of the smaller cubes and and red on the remaining. Each is then cut
the large cube? into 32 cubes of same size and mixed up.How
(a) 2 : 1 (b) 3 : 2 many cubes have only one coloured face each
(c) 25 :18 (d) 27 : 20 ?
(a) 32 (b) 8
36. Three cubes with sides in the ratio 3 : 4 : (c) 16 (d) 0
5 are melted to form a single cube whose
diagonal is cm. the sides of the cubes are : 39. A dice is numbered from 1 to 6 in different
(a) 3 cm, 4cm, 5cm (b) 6 cm, ways. If 1 is opposite to 5 and 2 is opposite to
8cm, 10cm 3, then
(c) 9 cm, 12cm, 15cm (d) None of (a) 4 is adjacent to 3 and 6
these (b) 2 is adjacent to 4 and 6
(c) 4 is adjacent to 5 and 6
(d) 6 is adjacent to 3 and 4

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40. Directions (Q. Nos 40-44) Read the 42. How many cubes have only two colours,
following informaion and answer the red and black?
questions that follow: (a) 4 (b) 12
A wooden cube of side 4cm has been painted (c) 6 (d) 2
with different colours. The two opposite
srfaces are painted red, the other two with 43. How many cubes have only black colour?
green colour. Out of the remaining two (a) 12 (b) 8
surfaces, one is painted white and the other is (c) 4 (d) 16
painted black. Now the cube is cut into 64
equal cubes. 44. How many cubes do not have any
How many cubes have only green colour? coloured face?
(a) 16 (b) 12 (a) 4 (b) 8
(c) 4 (d) 8 (c) 16 (d) 12

41. How many cubes have three colours red, 45. A 4 cm cube is cut into 1 cm cubes. The
green and white? total surface area of all the small cubes is :
(a) 2 (b) 4 (a) 96 cm2 (b) 24 cm2
(c) 8 (d) 12 (c) 384 cm2 (d) None

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