Final answer:
To find the side length of the original cube, subtract the volume of the rectangular box from the volume of the cube. The equation to solve for the side length is s³ - 8ft³ = 131ft³.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the side length of the original cube, we need to subtract the volume of the rectangular box from the volume of the cube. The volume of a cube is calculated by taking the side length cubed. Let's denote the side length of the original cube as s. The volume of the rectangular box is given as 131 ft³, so the volume of the cube without the slice is s³. We can set up the following equation: s³ - 8ft³ = 131ft³. Solving for s gives us s ≈ 5.76 ft.