May be the vertical distance is 300. and let horizontal distance be h. angle of depression (from the balloon) to edge of cliff = 40.5° so, tan(40.5)=h/300 h= 300*tan(40.5) since, tan(45°)=1, tan(40.5°) must be smaller than one as tan(x) is a increasing function. so 300*tan(40.5°) must be less than 300 therefore the horizontal distance is 256 ft
