I dont understand why this is wrong. can someone me?

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The discussion centers on calculating the tension in a rope used by a climber rappelling down a cliff. The climber's weight is 82.5 kg, with a center of gravity 1.3 m from his feet, and he rappels at an angle of 28.9 degrees above the horizontal. The initial calculation for tension was incorrectly derived due to the misuse of angles in the torque equation. The correct approach requires using the angle between the position vector and the force, leading to a reevaluation of the tension calculation.

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Mountaineers often use a rope to lower themselves down the face of a cliff (this is called rappelling). They do this with their body nearly horizontal and their feet pushing against the cliff. Suppose that an 82.5 kg climber, who is 1.54 m tall and has a center of gravity 1.3 m from his feet, rappels down a vertical cliff with his body raised 28.9 degree above the horizontal. He holds the rope 1.46 m from his feet, and it makes a 24.2 degree angle with the cliff face.
http://session.masteringphysics.com/problemAsset/1039093/3/YF-11-33.jpg

a) What tension does his rope need to support?




I found the tension to be equal to - mg(1.3) sin(28.9) + T(1.3) sin(180 - 24.2-28.9)=0 and then i solve for T. T= (mg(1.3)sin(28.9))/(1.3sin(180-24.2-28.9)). I plugged in the numbers and found the answer to be 488.61 N but it's wrong. Can someone please help me? Thank you!
 
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princessfrost said:
I found the tension to be equal to - mg(1.3) sin(28.9) + T(1.3) sin(180 - 24.2-28.9)=0 and then i solve for T.
You are using the wrong angles. When using \tau = rF\sin\theta, the angle is the angle between the position vector (r) and the force.
 
ok i got it. thank you sooo much for your help! i really appreciated it!

:)
 

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