The rate of change in an equation is the coefficient of x. EXAMPLE: y=3x+4 The rate of change is 3. To find the rate of change from a table choose two consecutive points and take the ratio of the change in outputs over the change in inputs. EXAMPLE: A man has a forearm of 15 and a goot length of 16. (15,16). A woman has a forearm of 11 and a foot length of 12. (11,12). The rate of change would be: (16 - 12) / (15 - 11) or 4/4 which is 1.