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up vote 5 down vote favorite

I have created a table, inspired by this guide: http://www.tug.org/pracjourn/2007-1/mori/mori.pdf

Here is my result

\begin{table}[tp]%
\centering%
\begin{tabular}{cccccc}
\toprule%
&Table &Light [L]  &$\zeta_0/2\pi$ [MHz]  &Flux [1/s]  &Dimensions [m] \\\toprule
&10    &3          &28.73                 &asd         &$(20\times 10)$ \\
&1     &3          &28.73                 &asd         &$(20\times 10)$ \\
&0     &3          &28.73                 &asd         &$(20\times 10)$ \\\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Maximum load and nominal tension.}
\label{aggiungi}
\end{table}

I would like to hear what other people think of it. Personally I would like the distance beween the headlines and the lower toprule to be a little larger, but I'm not quite sure how to do that properly.

Any feedback and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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4  
I would use \midrule between the heading and the data rows, rather than a \toprule. – Yiannis Lazarides Dec 31 '12 at 13:15
1  
Hi Niles1710373. Note that you don't have to sign with your name since it automatically appears in the lower right corner of your post. – Claudio Fiandrino Dec 31 '12 at 13:16
1  
It's not entirely clear if the unit of the product $20\times10$ is metre or sqare metre. I'm guessing it's the latter? – cgnieder Dec 31 '12 at 13:16
It is 20m times 10m. Is my notation unclear? Do you have any suggestions for what i can change it to? – Niles1710373 Dec 31 '12 at 13:29
1  
Maybe something like [$\unit{m}\times\unit{m}$] (with an appropriate definition of \unit or even better using siunitx and its \si which is a good idea anyway if you need units more often) – cgnieder Dec 31 '12 at 13:48

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

I like the dimensions in an own row to save some horizontal space which gives a better looking tabular:

\listfiles
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{caption,array,booktabs}
\begin{document}

\begin{table}
\caption{Maximum load and nominal tension.}\label{aggiungi}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{@{}cccc>{$}c<{$}@{}}\toprule
Table &Light  &$\zeta_0/2\pi$ &Flux   &\mbox{Dimensions}  \\
      &[L]    & [MHz]         &[1/s]  &\mbox{[m]} \\\midrule
10    &3      &28.73          &asd    &(20\times 10) \\
1     &3      &28.73          &asd    &(20\times 10) \\
0     &3      &28.73          &asd    &(20\times 10) \\\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\end{document}

enter image description here

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Thanks for the suggestion. I tried changing the second midrule to a toprule, but then the distance between the units and lower toprule is decreased a little. Do you know how i can increase it? – Niles1710373 Dec 31 '12 at 13:21
use \midrule[1pt] instead – Herbert Dec 31 '12 at 13:39
up vote 7 down vote

You have a column too much. Moreover, units should be specified in parentheses, rather than (square) brackets, which mean a different thing (abstract dimensions and not units).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs,siunitx}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}    
\centering
\begin{tabular}{ccS[table-format=2.2]cc}
\toprule
Table & Light    & {$\zeta_0/2\pi$} & Flux          & Dimensions     \\
      & (\si{L}) & {(\si{MHz})}     & (\si{s^{-1}}) & (\si{m})       \\
\midrule
10    & 3        & 28.73            & asd           &$(20\times 10)$ \\
1     & 3        & 28.73            & asd           &$(20\times 10)$ \\
0     & 3        & 28.73            & asd           &$(20\times 10)$ \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Maximum load and nominal tension.}
\label{aggiungi}
\end{table}
\end{document}

Using siunitx ensures uniform appearance of your units and also gives many tools for table processing.

I'm a bit dubious about the parentheses in the last column.

enter image description here

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2  
For the last column's units (\si{m} \times \si{m}) would make it dimensionally consistent without obscuring the dimensions by turning it into \si{\square\m}. – Ricardo Dec 31 '12 at 14:17
1  
@Ricardo Yes, I agree; but it also depends on the traditions in the field where this is used (which I don't know). – egreg Dec 31 '12 at 14:35

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