List label and equation on the same line

Question

I'm doing my (high school) math homework using LaTeX. As you might expect, I primarily use nested lists and multiline "Solve for x"-type equations.
The align environment and its other non-ed ending brethren do not allow vertical alignment of the list label with the first line of the equation (as you would get using \item \(\begin{aligned}[t]..., say).

MWE

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
Here is a list containing two unimaginative equations:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item 
        \begin{align}
            x^2 - 2x - 8 &= x^2 - 4x + 2x - 8\
            &= (x-4)(x+2)
        \end{align}
\item
    \(\begin{aligned}[t]
        x^2 - 2x - 8 &amp;= x^2 - 4x + 2x - 8\\
        &amp;= (x-4)(x+2)
    \end{aligned}\)

\end{enumerate}
\end{document}

Using the aligned environment (a) gives an uncentered equation and (b) deprives me of equation numbering privileges (though I would still like to know how to centre these; using \centering doesn't work, neither does inserting two \hfills on either side of \(...\)).

An align or IEEEeqnarray environment that allows space for the list label would be ideal. I do not like the solution of aligning the equation numbers on the left, as some list items would contain text as well.

Using left aligned equation numbers instead of the itemize numbers as shown in https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/46648/134144 could also be interesting. — leandriis, Jul 22 '20 at 13:29
@leandriis I rarely use equation referencing while solving questions, so I can now improve the look of about 90% of my homework. Thank you for that! — Soyuz42, Jul 22 '20 at 14:17

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '20 at 14:21

Here are two solutions, including one for numbered equations:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
Here is a list containing two unimaginative equations:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item \leavevmode\vspace*{-\dimexpr\abovedisplayskip + \baselineskip}\begin{align}
            x^2 - 2x - 8 &= x^2 - 4x + 2x - 8\
            &= (x-4)(x+2)
        \end{align}
\item \makebox[\linewidth]{\(\begin{aligned}[t]
        x^2 - 2x - 8 &amp;= x^2 - 4x + 2x - 8\\
        &amp;= (x-4)(x+2)
    \end{aligned}\)}


\end{enumerate}
\end{document}

Exactly what I wanted. Thank you! – Soyuz42 Jul 22 '20 at 14:28 — Soyuz42, Jul 22 '20 at 14:28

List label and equation on the same line

MWE

1 Answers1