because both AP and BP are tangent lines they are the same length so we will set them to equal each other to solve for x
AP = BP
3x-4 = 2x +12
subtract 2x from each side:
x-4 = 12
add 4 to each side:
x = 16
now we know x, replace x with 16 in the equation for AP:
AP = 3(16) -4
AP = 48 -4
AP = 44 meters