Physics 20 Homework Help: Equillibrium?

Posted on 2018-04-24 17:54:00 in Physics by ANAL BELL

A street sign weighs 450N. The sign is supported equally by two wires that form an angle of 110° with each other. 

a) What is the tension in each of the wires. 
[MY ANSWER IS -225N AND 225N] 

b) If the angle is increased to 150°, what is the tension in each of the wires? 
[MY ANSWER IS -58.2N AND 58.2N] 

I feel like I am doing something wrong. I think what it is is that i made my horizontal/vertical component triangles with the X acis rather than the Y axis, so instead of using 55° as my angle for each of the triangles, I used 35°. Im not sure why I would make the triangles with the Y axis, can someone explain to me how to know when I should make them with the Y axis and the X axis? If im wrong, of course. Thanks! 
 

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