[Tex/LaTex] How to center text/math inside a list environment

equationshorizontal alignmentlists

When using math (display) mode in conjunction with a list environment, the displayed material is not truly centered on the page; it is only centered with respect to the indentation of the item. Consider the following example:

\begin{itemize}
\item The quadratic formula
\[
x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}
\]
\item The freshman's dream
\[
(a+b)^n=a^n+b^n
\]
\end{itemize}

How can I get the displayed math to be centered horizontally with respect to the margins of the page??

Of course, this question is not specific to centering a displayed equation. The same question is valid for the use of \begin{center} text \end{center} inside a list environment.

Best Answer

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,bm}
\def\MLine#1{\par\hspace*{-\leftmargin}\parbox{\textwidth}{\[#1\]}}
\begin{document}

\noindent\rule{\textwidth}{2pt}

\begin{itemize}
\item The quadratic formula 
      \MLine{x=\dfrac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}}
\item The freshman's dream 
      \MLine{(a+b)^n=a^n+b^n}
\end{itemize}

\[(a+b)^n=a^n+b^n\]

\end{document}

enter image description here

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to Center a BeamerColorBox

wd=<dimen> not only sets the width of the beamercolorbox to <dimen>, it sets the \hsize to <dimen>. So you're centering a box in a line which has the same width as the box, resulting in nothing.

So to force centering, use some \hfills:

\documentclass{beamer}
\setbeamercolor{bgcolor}{fg=black,bg=blue}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
\hfill
    \begin{beamercolorbox}[rounded=true, center, shadow=true,wd=6cm]{bgcolor}
        Some text goes here...
    \end{beamercolorbox}
\hfill\hfill
\end{frame}

\end{document}

I'm not sure why you need two at the end—it seems like one at the front and back would do the centering. But instead you just get a box flush right. So an extra one does the trick.

[Tex/LaTex] Caption shifted left with `\captionof` in a list environment

I don't know the reason of this behavior, but if you put your \captionof inside a \parbox of width \linewidth

\parbox{\linewidth}{\captionof{figure}{\textsc{Caption}'s \texttt{\string\captionof}. Left shift.}}

the caption is centered in the remaining line width, that is, it is right-shifted as expected:

enter image description here

Full MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\let\oldcaption\caption
\usepackage{caption}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
  Within a float:
  \oldcaption{Default \LaTeX's caption. OK.}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
  Within a float:
  \caption{\textsc{Caption}'s \texttt{\string\caption}. OK.}
\end{figure}
\noindent Outside of a float:
\bgroup
\captionof{figure}{\textsc{Caption}'s \texttt{\string\captionof}. OK.}
\egroup
\begin{itemize}
\item
  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    \begin{itemize}
    \item
      \begin{itemize}
      \item
        \begin{figure}[h]
          Within a float, within lists:
          \caption{\textsc{Caption}'s \texttt{\string\caption}. OK.}
        \end{figure}
        \noindent
        Outside of a float, within lists:

        \vspace*{\baselineskip}
        \parbox{\linewidth}{\captionof{figure}{\textsc{Caption}'s \texttt{\string\captionof}. Left shift.}}
      \end{itemize}
    \end{itemize}
  \end{itemize}
\end{itemize}
\end{document}

Also notice that the 4th caption is outside the list... That's probably why you don't encounter that strange behavior.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to Center a BeamerColorBox

[Tex/LaTex] Caption shifted left with `\captionof` in a list environment

Related Question