Math & Science ⇒ How to adjust the vertical spacements in two columns lists?

[Cham]

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.

Code: Select all

\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 10430 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]

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]

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]

Well, apparently my issue is solved by the itemsep option. Try this MWE code:

Code: Select all

\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]

There are still the \vphantom commands in the code.

Stefan

[Cham]

Right. Removing the \vphantom commands reduces a bit the vertical spacing (set to 11 points), but it's still all uniform (no stretching). I think the issue is solved now, but I'll see this later, after my code as evolved.