A box is formed by cutting squares out of the corners of a flat piece of metal, and folding the sides up. What size cuts should I make to a 14in. by 20in. piece to get a volume of 270in cubed?

270 = x(14-2x)(20-2x)

4x^3 - 68x^2 + 280x - 270 = 0
x = 1.4 or 4.2

not sure what tools you have to solve cubics. In this case a simple graphic method gives approximate results.

visit wolframalpha.com and type in

solve x(14-2x)(20-2x) = 270