Cube Rotation

What the question asks

You are shown three or four views of the same cube. One face, however, is either blank or replaced with a question mark.

Your job is to identify the missing face from these perspectives. These are not particularly easy questions.

How do I start?

A cube has six faces, but from any viewpoint you can only see three of them, meeting at one corner.

You need to use the relationship between the faces you can see to eliminate answer options one by one.

One way to visualise this whilst you practice is to highlight the shared edges between two faces in different colours. That way, you can orient yourself by these edges wherever those faces appear. Naturally, this isn’t possible in an online test.

Consider nets

Many of the techniques used in solving cube net problems transfer here, including pointing. However, one extra tip: if you can already see five different faces, and you can eliminate each of them, it is possible that the answer can be a shape not otherwise represented. In fact, that option becomes the only possible answer.

Where it comes up

Rotation questions appear in the non-verbal reasoning portions of independent school entrance exams, in the ISEB Pre-Test, and in GL-style 11+ papers. They may sometimes be represented as dice rather than cubes with various symbols.

How to use this tool

Start by clicking ‘corner view’ to lock onto one corner. By clicking on one of the three shown faces, decorate it so it resembles your question. Repeat for the other two, then rotate the cube.

Look back at your question and find another perspective involving one of the faces you’ve just added. Orient the 3D cube in the same way as this view, and decorate the other faces.

When your cube is complete, rotate it freely to see how the different faces are positioned.

A note on when to use it

Attempt the question first, then use the tool to check. These tools will solve a problem for you if you let them, which won’t help you improve.