Mechanical Equilibrium; How set this up?

Question

A beam that is 5.0 m long has a weight of 80 N. It is supported at each end by a wooden post. On top of the beam is half of an identical beam, as shown in the diagram. The magnitude of the force exerted by the right wooden post is ___ N. The magnitude of the force exerted by the left wooden post is ____ N.

Answer 1

It's really hard to understand what is going on without a diagram but the bottom line is that, in equilibrium, the sum of the forces in the x-direction is zero, the sum of the forces in the y-direction is zero, and the sum of the moments is zero. Set up your equations and solve simultaneous equations.