# How to put a row in a table with no column division but the rest of the table to have divisions

I want to make a table where it is completely gridded up apart from the line subscript where I want to have just lines above and below but no other lines.

I am trying this code but it doesn't give me what I want.

\begin{table}[!ht]
\centering
\caption*{Common Notation}
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}
\hline
{\bf Symbol} & {\bf  Description} & {\bf Units} \\ \hline
$\alpha$ & Thermal expansion coefficient & $^\circ$C$^{-1}$ \\ \hline
$\kappa$ & Thermal diffusivity &  m$^2$/s \\ \hline
$\eta$ & Dynamic viscosity & Pa s \\ \hline
$\nu$ & Kinematic viscosity & m$^2$/s \\ \hline
C$_{p}$ & Specific Heat Capacity & J/kg$^\circ$C \\ \hline
$\rho$ & Density & kg/m$^3$ \\ \hline
T & Temperature & $^\circ$C \\ \hline
k & Thermal conductivity & W/m$^\circ$C \\ \hline
v & Velocity & m/yr \\ \hline
$\Delta$T=T$_h$-T$_\infty$ & Temperature Difference & $^\circ$C \\ \hline
$\eta$$^*=\eta$$_h$-$\eta$$_\infty & Viscosity Contrast & Pa s \\ \hline U & Speed & m/s \\ \hline y_T & Thermal boundary layer & m \\ \hline l_c & Plume height after about 2 hours & m \\ \hline \tau$$_c$ & Diffusion time & s \\ \hline
$\tau$ & Time the plume first emerges & s \\ \hline
g & Gravitational acceleration & m/s$^2$ \\ \hline
D & Plume Diameter & m \\ \hline
H & Height of the tank &\\ \hline
P & Pressure & Pa \\
\end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{|l|} subscript \\
\end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}
h & Heater  & \\ \hline
$\infty$ & Ambient & \\ \hline
b & Buoyancy & \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\label{corn}
\end{table}


Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks!

-
are you looking for \multicolumn{}{}{}?? – Rico Jun 18 '13 at 17:20
I am looking for the easiest way to make the subscript line have no divisions. – Marie Jun 18 '13 at 17:23
I did try multicolumn but couldnt get it to work properly – Marie Jun 18 '13 at 17:24
Welcome to TeX.SX! You can have a look on our starter guide to familiarize yourself further with our format. – Claudio Fiandrino Jun 18 '13 at 17:40

What you want looks like \multicolumn{}{}{}

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}
\hline
something & something & something\\
\hline
\multicolumn{3}{|l|}{very very long line}\\
\hline
something & something & something\\
\hline
something & something & something\\
\hline
\end{tabular}


gives you a table like this:

As you can see the first {} determines how many columns should be put together. The second {} stands for the format of those cells and the third one if for the actual content.

Instead of using a new tabular environment you can simply replace it with this \multicolimn line and get what you want.

Your full Example should look like this after applying those changes:

\begin{table}[!ht]
\centering
\caption{Common Notation}
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}
\hline
{\bf Symbol} & {\bf Description} & {\bf Units} \\
\hline
$\alpha$ & Thermal expansion coefficient & $^\circ$C$^{-1}$ \\
\hline
$\kappa$ & Thermal diffusivity & m$^2$/s \\
\hline
$\eta$ & Dynamic viscosity & Pa s \\
\hline
$\nu$ & Kinematic viscosity & m$^2$/s \\
\hline
$C_{p}$ & Specific Heat Capacity & J/kg$^\circ$C \\
\hline
$\rho$ & Density & kg/m$^3$ \\
\hline
T & Temperature & $^\circ$C \\
\hline
k & Thermal conductivity & W/m$^\circ$C \\
\hline
v & Velocity & m/yr \\
\hline
$\Delta$T=T$h$-T$\infty$ & Temperature Difference & $^\circ$C \\
\hline
$\eta$$^*=\eta$$h$-$\eta$$\infty & Viscosity Contrast & Pa s \\ \hline U & Speed & m/s \\ \hline y_T & Thermal boundary layer & m \\ \hline l_c & Plume height after about 2 hours & m \\ \hline \tau$$_c$ & Diffusion time & s \\
\hline
$\tau$ & Time the plume first emerges & s \\
\hline
g & Gravitational acceleration & m/s$^2$ \\
\hline
D & Plume Diameter & m \\
\hline
H & Height of the tank & \\
\hline
P & Pressure & Pa \\
\hline
\multicolumn{3}{|l|}{subscript} \\
\hline
h & Heater & \\
\hline
$\infty$ & Ambient & \\
\hline
b & Buoyancy & \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\label{corn}
\end{table}

-
Thank you so much. After ages of searching you have solved my problem! – Marie Jun 18 '13 at 17:29
@Rico we got the same idea. Should I remove my answer since it is less general than yours? – Ludovic C. Jun 18 '13 at 17:29
you can if you wan't but you don't have to since it is not wrong. @Marie still needs to choose what helped her best by marking it as accepted :) – Rico Jun 18 '13 at 17:31