Calculating Torque of a Fishing Pole at 20 Degrees Inclination | Homework Help

[mizzy]

Homework Statement

A fishing pole is 2.00m long and inclined to the horizontal at an angle of 20.0degrees. What is the torque exerted by the fish about an axis perpendicular to the page and passing through the hand of the person holding the pole?

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I don't have the FBD. I know how the picture looks like, but what I'm not clear about is the torque. It says the axis perpendicular to the page and passing through the hand...is that the y component of the force exerted by the fish?

if it's not clear to you all, i'll attach the picture.

 

[Delta2]

If the force F that the fish exerts to the pole is given then the torque is 2Fcos(20)

 

[arkofnoah]

The axis perpendicular to the page and passing through the hand just means that the fishing pole pivots about the fisherman's hand. You do know that the torque is a pseudovector right? The torque vector points out of the page towards you from the fisherman's hand. Using the right-hand rule, we know that the torque is anti-clockwise.