Can I find the distance from Ax to C in this problem?

[Femme_physics]

Homework Statement

I'm not sure if I have enough information. I solved for Ay and By. But do I have the distance from Ax to C when I isolate the beam AD?

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/7963/20092009.jpg


P = 5 [kN]
Beams are weightless and connected by joints

The Attempt at a Solution

Attached

 

[I like Serena]

I'm not sure if I have enough information. I solved for Ay and By. But do I have the distance from Ax to C when I isolate the beam AD?

You do have enough information.
Of the triangle ABC you have 2 sides and 1 angle.
That is enough to completely determine ABC and anything related.

Can you calculate the angle between AB and AC?

Suppose you draw a line from C to a point on AB that is perpendicular.
Let's call this point E.
Can you calculate the length of CE now (using the angle)?

 

[HallsofIvy]

I like Serena is completely correct. More generally any time you drop a perpendicular from the right angle of a right triangle to the hypotenuse, you divide the triangle into two right triangles, both similar to the original triangle. If you are very clever, you don't need to calculate the angle at all or use any trig functions- however, you may find it simplest to use the cosine of A.

 

[Femme_physics]

Good call, I need to find angle BAC first. I needed to think more instead of going to the league of genius (i.e. you) at the first sign of desperation. My gratitude :)

 

[rwisz]

is an image of the problem.

I would say that it is not possible to find the distance from Ax to C without additional information. In order to calculate the distance, we would need to know the length of the beam AD and the angle between the beams AD and AC. Without this information, it is not possible to accurately determine the distance. It is important to have all the necessary information in order to solve a problem accurately.