## LaTeX forum ⇒ Math & Science ⇒ How to adjust the vertical spacements in two columns lists? Topic is solved

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Cham
Posts: 901
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 4:06 pm

### How to adjust the vertical spacements in two columns lists?

I would like to adjust the vertical spacements in the lists made with the MWE below. I want all vertical spacings to be constant (fixed). Currently, I'm hacking the vertical spacements using the \displaystyle and \vphantom commands.
\documentclass[11pt,twoside]{book}\usepackage{microtype,textcomp}\usepackage[total={6.25in,10in},left=1.25in,top=0.5in,includehead,includefoot]{geometry}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{enumitem}\usepackage{multicol} \begin{document} \begin{enumerate}	\item Some questions :		\begin{multicols}{2}		\begin{enumerate}[label=\alph*)]			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} x + 2 = 0}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} x + 2 = 5}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} 2 x + 2 = 0}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} 2 x = 4 x + 1}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} 4 x - 2 (x - 2) = 10}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} 5 x + 3 (2 x + 4) = 4 x - 9}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{5 x}{2} = 0}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{1}{2 x} = 5}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{1}{2 x - 1} = 5}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{1}{2 x - 5} + \frac{1}{5} = 0}$.		\end{enumerate}		\end{multicols} 	\item Some questions :		\begin{multicols}{2}		\begin{enumerate}[label=\alph*)]			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{2}{3} + \frac{5}{9}}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{11}{15} + \frac{6}{20}}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{9}{4} + 2}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{5}{6} - \frac{2}{3}}$.		\end{enumerate}		\end{multicols} 	\item Some questions :		\begin{multicols}{2}		\begin{enumerate}[label=\alph*)]			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} x \cdot x}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} 2 x \cdot 3 x^2}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{\displaystyle{4 x^2 \cdot 3 x y^2}}{\displaystyle{2 y^5}}}$.			\medskip			\item $\displaystyle{\frac{\displaystyle{8 x (x^2 + 4 x y)}}{\displaystyle{4 x^2}}}$.		\end{enumerate}		\end{multicols}\end{enumerate} \end{document}

Here's a preview of what this code is doing :
list.jpg (27.47 KiB) Viewed 1040 times

As you can see on that preview, the spacing between each item isn't exactly constant. How to fix the spacements between each item in a given list?

Cham
Posts: 901
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 4:06 pm
Hmmm, apparently, the simplest solution is to add the option itemsep=12pt to the itemize list, and remove all the \medskip from the list.

Is this the simplest and the best solution?

Stefan Kottwitz
Posts: 9415
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:44 pm
multicols environment are meant to be balanced, so they will be stretched. \raggedcolumns prevents this. But that's probably not perfect too. I guess I would use a table with two columns, the items in cells, to get this into a grid.

Stefan

Cham
Posts: 901
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2011 4:06 pm
Well, apparently my issue is solved by the itemsep option. Try this MWE code:

\documentclass[11pt,twoside]{book}\usepackage{microtype,textcomp}\usepackage[total={6.25in,10in},left=1.25in,top=0.5in,includehead,includefoot]{geometry}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{enumitem}\usepackage{multicol} \begin{document} 	\begin{multicols}{2}		\begin{enumerate}[label=\alph*),itemsep=11pt]			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} A}$.			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} B}$.			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} C}$.			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} D}$.			\item $\displaystyle{\vphantom{\frac{1}{2}} E}$.		\end{enumerate}	\end{multicols} \end{document}

Stefan Kottwitz
Posts: 9415
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:44 pm
There are still the \vphantom commands in the code.

Stefan