# Span formula over multiple pages.

I've looked through the search but I couldn't find what I specifically want.

I have the following

$$\begin{split} Very long equation \end{split}$$


Now, I have half a page left where I want to place that equation, but it is a little bit longer. The result is that LaTeX places the formula on the next page. Is there a way so that LaTeX automatically splits the equation over the two pages?

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Jonas, I've marked up your code by leaving a blank line before the block starts. I've also removed the \$ around 'LaTeX': the style we go for here is simply mixed case for TeX, LaTeX, etc. –  Joseph Wright Apr 5 '11 at 16:19
@Joseph: Thanks. –  Jonas Teuwen Apr 5 '11 at 16:20
You should consider breaking your formula in two or more pieces and put a line or paragraph with some explanation in-between. –  Hendrik Vogt Apr 5 '11 at 16:57

## 1 Answer

Not if you use split. Section 3.9 of the amsmath package documentation says that

Certain equation environments wrap their contents in an unbreakable box, with the consequence that neither \displaybreak nor \allowdisplaybreaks will have any effect on them. These include split, aligned, gathered, and alignedat.

The same section explains how to get the effect you need, using a different environment such as align or multline.

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Thanks. I see I also need to do: \allowdisplaybreaks[1]'' or something like that in the preamble. –  Jonas Teuwen Apr 5 '11 at 16:42
@Jonas T - Indeed. I have edited my answer to make it clearer. –  Ian Thompson Apr 5 '11 at 16:53