Pyraminx

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Pyraminx
Images.jpg
Pyraminx into a solved position
Alternative names:
Shape: Tetrahedron
Internal Mechanism: Pyraminx
Inventor: Uwe Meffert
Year: 1981
Produced by: Cyclone Boys, DaYan, FanXin, HeShu, Meffert's, Moyu, QiYi, QJ, ShengShou, Z Cube
Twisty Puzzles museum link: PKEY640
Jaap's puzzle page link: pyraminx
Mefferts Original Pryaminx

The Pyraminx is a triangular pyramid-shaped (or tetrahedron) puzzle. The parts are arranged in a pyramidal pattern on each side of the puzzle. The layers can be rotated with respect to each vertex, and the individual tips can be rotated as well. It was designed by Uwe Mèffert in the early 1970s.

In the early 1970s Uwe Mèffert experimented with slicing polyhedra into symmetric slices and attaching them with rubber bands to a center ball. His wooden puzzles would eventually end up in a drawer half-forgotten. It was only when the Rubik's Cube craze hit in the early 1980s that Mèffert brought it to the attention of a toy company. Over 10 million pyraminxes were sold by Christmas 1981, and 90 million within 3 years.

The pyraminx is a tetrahedron trisected by planes parallel to each face. This means there are 4 axial pieces, 6 edge pieces, and 4 tips. The pyraminx can be arranged into 75,582,720 possible positions. This sounds a lot compared with the 2x2x2 Cube which has 3,674,160 possible positions. However, solving the tips is trivial, and ignoring these reduces the possibilities to 933,120 positions. In addition, the axial pieces can be easily rotated so that their colors line up with each other, reducing the problem to just the six edge pieces with 11,520 possible positions. This makes the pyraminx one of the simplest of the twisty puzzles.

Variants

  • Tetraminx. The simplest variant is the Tetraminx which is equivalent to the Pyraminx but without the tips.
  • Master Pyraminx. The Master Pyraminx is a 4-layer pyraminx with 16 triangles per face. It has about 2.17225 × 1017 possible combinations.
  • Professor Pyraminx. The Professor Pyraminx is a 5-layer pyraminx with 25 triangles per face.
  • Royal Pyraminx. The Royal Pyraminx is a 6-layer pyraminx with 36 triangles per face.
  • Emperor Pyraminx. The Emperor Pyraminx is a 7-layer pyraminx with 49 triangles per face.

See also

External links