Thread: Weight of a crate and tension of a rope

Okay...so, these are my example problems for this section. Section Level Video: Section 7.5 This is literally the same series of problems I have in my book. I have no other material teaching me in this section.

And here's the problem I have from this section:

"A crate is supported by two ropes. Rope 1 makes an angle of 46 degrees 23 minutes with the horizontal and has a tension of 98.4 pounds on it. Rope 2 is horizontal. Find the weight of the crate and the tension in the horizontal rope."

From what I can tell, this is not an application of the law of sines or cosines. How do I solve this?

Figured it out. Treat it like a polar equation. R=98.4, theta=46 degrees 23 minutes.

Convert it to a vector in <a,b> and a=your horizontal rope, b= weight of the crate.

If there's a more scientific explanation, tell me so I can better conceptualize it.

Oh, polar equations are from a full chapter further in the book, too.