How to fit a large equation that goes out of the page?

Question

I have the following equation

\begin{equation}
    Ep = (Required Personality Level of Each Resource - Assigned Personality 
    Level of each Resources) \times (da\textsubscript{i})
\end{equation}

but it is too large as is. How should I write it so it can fit nicely on the page?

Is the hyphen between “Resource” and “Assigned” meant to be a minus sign? — egreg, Nov 25 '18 at 14:38
See also: math mode - How can I split an equation over two (or more) lines - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange — user202729, Apr 13 '23 at 23:08

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 25 '18 at 14:35

Mathematical symbols where created to represent the meaning of longer descriptive words in a short form for easy inclusion in complex formulas with possible repetition. I would choose a suitable symbol/character to represent that long sentence like this (choose your own descriptive symbol):

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}

\begin{equation}
  Ep = P_l \times da_i,
\end{equation}
%
where $P_l =$ Required Personality Level of Each Resource-Assigned Personality Level of all Resources

\end{document}

I would go a step further, and say "where $P_l$ is the required personality ...", explaining in words what the symbol is. There's no gain to using math here. — Teepeemm, Nov 25 '18 at 21:45

score 12 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 25 '18 at 13:56

12

break your long text into two lines:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
\begin{equation}
    Ep = \left(\begin{tabular}{l}
                Required Personality Level of Each Resource-\\
                Assigned Personality Level of each Resources
                \end{tabular}\right)
        \times (da_{i})
\end{equation}
\end{document}

answered Nov 25 '18 at 13:56

Zarko

296,517

no other option is available? – Iftikhar Ahmad Nov 25 '18 at 14:14
9

what option? you can't store elephant into suitcase ... or do you like to make equation invisible small? – Zarko Nov 25 '18 at 14:22

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 01 '18 at 05:46

Hope you are looking for autobreak option in display math? If yes, refer the below tag:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{autobreak}

\begin{document}

\allowdisplaybreaks

\begin{align}
\begin{autobreak}
    Ep = 
(Required Personality Level of Each Resource - Assigned Personality 
    Level of each Resources) 
\times (da\textsubscript{i})
\end{autobreak}
\end{align}

\end{document}

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 01 '18 at 09:04

By using amsmath I can think of two more options: you can use

multiline (justified multiline formula)
split (allows to align about certain character without bulky tabular construction)

environments. Note that text in math equations is typically upright; I also adapted subscript notation to use in math environment:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

\begin{multline}
    Ep = (\text{Required Personality Level of Each Resource}\\
    - \text{Assigned Personality Level of each Resources}) \\
    \times (da_\mathrm{i})
\end{multline}

\begin{equation}
    \begin{split}
        Ep &= (\text{Required Personality Level of Each Resource}\\
        &- \text{Assigned Personality Level of each Resources}) \\
        &\times (da_\mathrm{i})
    \end{split}
\end{equation}

\end{document}

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 26 '20 at 23:25

If your equation does not fit on a single line, then the multline environment probably is what you need:

\begin{multline}
    first part of the equation \\
    = second part of the equation
\end{multline}

If you also need some alignment respect to the first part, you can use split:

\begin{equation}
    \begin{split}
        first part &= second part #1 \\
        &= second part #2
    \end{split}
\end{equation}

Both environments require the amsmath package.

See also aligned as pointed out in an answer below.

How to fit a large equation that goes out of the page?

5 Answers5