Unsolvable Force Components Problem

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Ryuk1990
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Homework Statement



I've got this physics problem where I'm working to find the magnitudes of two force components.

Homework Equations



F1sin45 + F2cos30 = 500 lbf

F1sin45 - F2sin30 = 0

The Attempt at a Solution



I've tried so many times by substituting F1 and F2 into both equations but I just can't seem to solve for them. Can someone guide me on how to solve this particular problem step by step because I have to solve a bunch of these.
 
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Can you show us exactly what you are doing to solve the system?

What you could do is re-arrange the second equation to get F1 in terms of F2 and then substitute it into the first equation.
 
Ryuk1990 said:

Homework Statement



I've got this physics problem where I'm working to find the magnitudes of two force components.

Homework Equations



F1sin45 + F2cos30 = 500 lbf...(1)

F1sin45 - F2sin30 = 0...(2)

Both equations 1 and 2 contain F1sin45, you can just subtract equations 1 and 2, and get F2, remember sin30°=1/2 and co30°=√3/2
 
You can add, divide, subtract equations when dealing with systems.
 
rock.freak667 said:
Both equations 1 and 2 contain F1sin45, you can just subtract equations 1 and 2, and get F2, remember sin30°=1/2 and co30°=√3/2

Ok I did what you said, but I end up with this:

F2(√3/2) + F2(1/2) = 500

How do I get F2 alone now?
 
(root 3 +1)F_2/2=500
1000/(root 3+1)=f_2
 
I got 577.35 for F2. Is that right?
 
no. its [tex]\frac{1000}{\sqrt{3}+1}[/tex]