It asks me to use the first step of the three step process to find the pattern of the table.
the table is the table of inches and centimeters, inches is 5,6,7,8 and centimeters is 12.7,15.24,17.78,20.32 how would i do this?

y = 2.54

Step-by-step explanation:

Please input an actual table, such as the following:

x    y

5    12.7

6    15.24

7     17.78

8    20.32

It appears that we're converting inches to centimeters.

It so happens that 1 inch = 2.54 cm.  The '2.54' is the slope of a straight line, as the number of cm equivalent to x inches is c = 2.54x.

Arbitrarily taking the 2 points (5, 12.7) and (8, 20.32), we find the slope of the line through these points.  As we go from the first to the second, the x-value ('run') increases from 5 to 8 (that is, it increases by 3) and the y-value ('rise') increases from 12.7 to 20.32 (that is, it increases by 7.62.  Thus, the slope of the line through these two points is m = rise / run = 7.62 / 3 = 2.54.

Now find the equation of the line thru these two points.   Using the slope-intercept formula y = mx + b and the points (5, 12.7) we get this equation for the y-intercept (b):

12.7 = 2.54(5) + b

which tells us that b = 0.  

Therefore, the desired relationship is   y = 2.54   and this is a proportional relationship (no y-offset).