i think the question is incomplete it should be if only the surface of a rubric cube of dimension 10 by 10 by 10 is painted then how many cubes have paint on it (1 cube is 1 * 1 * 1) answer is 488 total 1000 cubes - (8 * 8 * 8) 1000 - 512 (inner rubric cube) = 488