[Tex/LaTex] Aligning in text (non-math)

horizontal alignment

I would like to align some text similar to how the align math environment works. I don't want to put the text in a table, because I don't want it to float. I tried putting the text in a tabular environment, but that doesn't flow well with the text before and after.

An example:

Here is some text before by aligned text
    S  Isomeric state
    Z  Atomic number
    A  Atomic mass number
Some text after the aligned text

Does that example make sense?

Best Answer

There are numerous ways to achieve this depending on the complexity of the alignment.

One way is to use \makebox to set the text into a fixed width size:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
Here is some text before by aligned text\par
    \makebox[1.5cm]{S}  Isomeric state\par
    \makebox[1.5cm]{Z}  Atomic number\par
    \makebox[1.5cm]{A}  Atomic mass number\par
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}

Depending on the complexity of the alignment, you can define macros to make the entry as above easier.

If you only have a list as in the example you have given, you could use simply use a list environment. Here is an an example use the enumitem package

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}
\noindent
Here is some text before by aligned text
\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=2.0cm,labelsep=0.5cm]
\item[S] Isomeric state
\item[Z] Atomic number
\item[A] Atomic mass number
\end{itemize}
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}

You could also use the tabular environment and not put it in a float:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
\noindent
Here is some text before by aligned text

\begin{tabular}{rl}
    S& Isomeric state\\
    Z& Atomic number\\
    A& Atomic mass number
\end{tabular}

\noindent
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}

Yet another option is to use the tabbing environment (suggested by @GonzaloMedina):

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document} 
\noindent
Here is some text before by aligned text
\begin{tabbing}
\hspace*{1em}\= \hspace*{2em} \= \kill % set the tabbings
    \> S\>  Isomeric state \\
    \>Z  \>Atomic number \\
    \>A  \>Atomic mass number
\end{tabbing}
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}
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