Is There an Easier Method for Solving Truss Problems?

[yecko]

Homework Statement

Homework Equations

Method of section

The Attempt at a Solution

This pic below is my attempt, almost solved out length of all the truss... (and i am not sure if my numbers are correct as well for such a troublesome method in solving... )

as my exam would only leave me 15 minutes for each question, so it would be unlikely that i could solve it out with the same method during exam... i am sure there would be simpler ways to solve it...

can anyone suggest any better method to attempt the question?
Thank you very much!

 

[PhanthomJay]

It is a bit of a pain to calculate lengths and slopes using geometry and trig. I'm not sure where yourverrir might be in the geometry, if any, but when you summed forces in the y direction, you forgot to include the applied load L.