Aligning long set of equations

Question

I'm trying to make a big series of equation equalities in LaTeX, however, my equation just keeps going on out of the page width. Here is what I have:

$$
TCU_{1,2}(y_1,y_2)=\frac{25}{4y_1}+\frac{125}{120-y_1} =\frac{25(120-y_1)}{(4y_1)(120-y_1)}+\frac{125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)} \\ =\frac{25(120-y_1)+125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}=\frac{3000+475y_1}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}
$$

I need it to align beneath each other, how do I do this? I only use the amsmath package. and an article documentclass.

Welcome to TeX.SX! You can have a look at our starter guide to familiarize yourself further with our format. — karlkoeller, Jan 10 '15 at 19:56

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

8

Use split inside equation*

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

\begin{equation*}
\begin{split}
TCU_{1,2}(y_1,y_2)&=\frac{25}{4y_1}+\frac{125}{120-y_1} \\
&=\frac{25(120-y_1)}{(4y_1)(120-y_1)}+\frac{125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)} \\ 
&=\frac{25(120-y_1)+125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}\\
&=\frac{3000+475y_1}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}
\end{split}
\end{equation*}
\end{document}

enter image description here

If you want to number the equation, use the equation environment instead of equation*.

Also, don-t use $$..$$ in LaTeX. See Why is \[ ... \] preferable to $$ ... $$? for reference.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

Community

1

answered Jan 10 '15 at 19:55

karlkoeller

124,410

Thanks! Can you tell me the difference between \begin{equation} and $$? I haven't had to use \begin{equation} before. – user70257 Jan 10 '15 at 19:59
@user70257 Take a look at the link in my answer. – karlkoeller Jan 10 '15 at 20:00
@user70257 - Do also check out the posting What are the differences between $$, \[, align, equation and displaymath?. – Mico Jan 10 '15 at 20:01
1

@user70257 And remember that you can accept the answer to mark the question as solved, if it solved your problem. See How do you accept an answer? – karlkoeller Jan 10 '15 at 20:02
I sugggest you to read for example Math mode (http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/info/math/voss/mathmode/Mathmode.pdf) or similar document about formating math. – Zarko Jan 10 '15 at 20:03
I forgot to log into my account to ask the question and now I logged out of the guest account so is there still a way to mark it as solved? Thanks a lot for those links as well! – Pim Jan 10 '15 at 20:16
1

@Pim -- take a look at Merge user accounts – barbara beeton Jan 10 '15 at 20:22
1

@Pim Use http://tex.stackexchange.com/contact to contact the StackExchange staff: they can merge your accounts together. – karlkoeller Jan 10 '15 at 20:46

Steven B. Segletes · Answer 2 · 2015-01-11T02:35:42.877

1

Here I use a left-aligned stack. The interline gap is settable with \setstackgap{S}{gap-size}. The default Shortstack gap is 3pt, which seems to small for my taste in this situation.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage[usestackEOL]{stackengine}
\stackMath
\setstackgap{S}{8pt}% SETS GAP BETWEEN STACK LINES
\begin{document}
\begin{equation*}
TCU_{1,2}(y_1,y_2)\Shortunderstack[l]{
  {}=\dfrac{25}{4y_1}+\dfrac{125}{120-y_1} \\
  {}=\dfrac{25(120-y_1)}{(4y_1)(120-y_1)}+\dfrac{125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)} \\ 
  {}=\dfrac{25(120-y_1)+125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}\\
  {}=\dfrac{3000+475y_1}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}
}
\end{equation*}
\end{document}

enter image description here

The identical result could be obtained with a TABstack:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{tabstackengine}
\stackMath
\setstackgap{S}{8pt}% SETS GAP BETWEEN STACK LINES
\begin{document}
\begin{equation*}
\alignShortunderstack{%
TCU_{1,2}(y_1,y_2)
  =&\dfrac{25}{4y_1}+\dfrac{125}{120-y_1} \\
  =&\dfrac{25(120-y_1)}{(4y_1)(120-y_1)}+\dfrac{125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)} \\ 
  =&\dfrac{25(120-y_1)+125(4y_1)}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}\\
  =&\dfrac{3000+475y_1}{(120-y_1)(4y_1)}
}
\end{equation*}
\end{document}

edited Jan 11 '15 at 02:35

answered Jan 11 '15 at 02:30

Steven B. Segletes

237,551

I think I said it before, but I will say it again: the interface for that package is awful (just my opinion, don't worry), I think you should think about a better interface (proably with key-value optional arguments). It would gain usability and users. – Manuel Jan 11 '15 at 02:37
@Manuel I appreciate your input. – Steven B. Segletes Jan 11 '15 at 02:40
Rereading, it may seem like “bad words”, I meant no “aggression”; while I really think your packages are useful, they lack of an acceptable interface. – Manuel Jan 11 '15 at 02:47
@Manuel I take it in the spirit in which it was intended, namely constructive criticism. Given lots of free time, I would move upon it, but that commodity has been in relatively short supply of late. – Steven B. Segletes Jan 11 '15 at 02:52

Aligning long set of equations

2 Answers2