CubingNumbers

Cubing 1- or 2-Digit Numbers

Cubing a number is the raising of the number to the third power. In other words, the cube of a number is when you multiply a number times itself twice more (X * X * X).

This method of cubing numbers is rather unusual, as there is no calculation required at all. Instead, the cubes of all the numbers from 0-99 are memorized.

Cubing Numbers from 0 to 9

Cubing both 0 and 1 are simple. They are their own cubes (0^3^ is 0 and 1^3^ is 1), so no links are really needed. 2^3^ is 8, and that's easily remembered, as well. Before remembering any more of the numbers, you should be comfortable with using the MajorSystem. The phonetic alphabet from the Major System will be used to create links from the numbers 3-99 to their respective cubes. Each association will be made to be as natural and memorable as possible.

Starting with the numbers from 0 to 9, here are the cubes and their links:

Number Number^3^ Original Link Cube Link
3 27 Ham An Egg
4 64 Rye Sherry
5 125 Lie Denial
6 216 Hash On A Dish
7 343 Key My Room
8 512 Hive Wild Honey
9 729 Bee Go Nip

Cubing Multiples of 10

Cubing 2-digit multiples of 10 is easy. The number from the tens place is cubed as above, and then you simply add three zeros. For example, 3^3^ is 27, so 30^3^ is 27,000 (27 thousand). 8^3^ is 512, so 80^3^ is 512,000 (512 thousand).

Cubing the Remaining 2-Digit Numbers

Here are the links for the remaining numbers from 11 to 99:

Number Number^3^ Original Link Cube Link Number Number^3^ Original Link Cube Link
11 1,331 Date With My Maid 56 175,616 Lash Tackle Judge
12 1,728 Dine Take Enough 57 185,193 Look To Evil Witty Poem
13 2,197 Item Notebook 58 195,112 Loaf Doubled Weight Now
14 2,744 Author Ink Hirer 59 205,379 Slap When I Sell My Cup
15 3,375 Tell Me Meekly 61 226,981 Shoot An Inch By a Foot
16 4,096 Dish Rose Bush 62 238,328 Jane Name Of New Wife
17 4,913 Talk Ripe Theme 63 250,047 Chime Only Uses a Rock
18 5,832 Theif Love Money 64 262,144 Chair No China Drawer
19 6,859 Daub Shave Lip 65 274,625 Shallow Niagra Channel
21 9,261 Hand Punched 66 287,496 Judge No Fake Rubbish
22 10,648 Nun Does Show Her Vow 67 300,763 Joke Amuse a Sick Chum
23 12,167 Name Dandy Joke 68 314,432 Shave May Draw Your Moan
24 13,824 New Year Time, Fine Rye 69 328,509 Shop Woman Feels Happy
25 15,625 Nile Dull Channel 71 357,911 Goat Milk By Today
26 17,576 Wench Took All Cash 72 373,248 Coin Make Men Rave
27 19,683 Nag To Buy Each Wife a Home 73 389,017 Come Move Up a Stake
28 21,952 Knave Neat Plan 74 405,224 Choir Rose Hill Nunnery
29 24,389 Nob No Army Fop 75 421,875 Quill Worn Out Of Gall
31 29,791 Mad In a Big Pout 76 438,976 Coach Remove Baggage
32 32,768 Money May Now Catch a Foe 77 456,533 Cook Relish Oily Mummy
33 35,937 My Home Home Will Be a Mohawk 78 474,552 Cuff Our Cruel Line
34 39,304 Mary May Be a Miser 79 493,039 Cop Rip a Museum Up
35 42,875 Mule Ruin a Vehicle 81 531,441 Food Well Made Arrow Root
36 46,656 Mash Rich Jewel Show 82 551,368 Fine Loyalty May Shave
37 50,653 Mug Lose Rich Home 83 571,787 Foam Liquid Coughing
38 54,872 Move Lower a Heavy Can 84 592,704 Fire Albany Gas Ray
39 59,319 My Pay Help Me To Buy 85 614,125 Fall Shatter Town Hall
41 68,921 Road Chief Point 86 636,056 Fish Shame a Choice Leach
42 74,088 Run Across a Five 87 658,503 Fake Shall a Fool Swim
43 79,507 Rum Keep Losing 88 681,472 Five Shaved a Raccoon
44 85,184 Rower Awful Diver 89 704,969 Fop Kiss Our Bishop
45 91,125 Rail Bad Tunnel 91 753,571 Butt Gloomy Lookout
46 97,336 Rich Big Mummy Show 92 778,688 Pony Kick a Fish Off a Hive
47 103,823 Rake Hits My Wife Numb 93 804,357 Poem Of Sour Milk
48 110,592 Rough Too, Head Sea Will Open 94 830,584 Bar Famous Loafer
49 117,649 Rube To Take a Chair Up 95 857,375 Pill Vile Chemical
51 132,651 Lad To Man Child 96 884,736 Page Favoring a Mash
52 140,608 Lion Dares Chase Foe 97 912,673 Pack Beaten Each Game
53 148,877 Lamb Drove Off Cook 98 941,192 Puff Part To Bin
54 157,464 Liar Idol Crusher 99 970,299 Pup Big As a Nabob
55 166,375 Lily Dutch Show My Equal

Other Resources

CubeRoots
FifthRoots

Etymology of the Table

It is an interesting diversion to compare the word links in the table above to those presented in a 1910 book on magic, Mnemonics as Applied to Conjuring. The somewhat outdated entries in the table above (what's a mash, or a nabob??) are also present in the 1910 book, but it is apparent that someone has updated a few of the above entries from the older list. As an example, the 1910 book has "Tackle a Schottische" for the cube of 56 (or 175,616), while the table above has "Tackle Judge," no doubt because so few know of the Scottish dance form. But a soft "dg" represents a single digit 6 in the MajorSystem, not a separate d and g representing 16, so in fact the newer entry is incorrect. A few other updates have been made, e.g., "liquid coughing" for "liquid quaffing." "Gloomy Outlook" is now paired with "Butt" rather than "Piety," perhaps an indication of a decline in modern sensitivities. A more ambitious and very recent attempt to modernize and streamline this table (including the baffling "Albany Gas Ray" entry), and one that also adds the squares of the numbers, can be found in the paper Mnemonics for Squares and Cubes of Two-Digit Numbers.

Rubik's Cube

WikiPedia:Rubik'sCube

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