# Kerning the table contents

I have the MWE as follows:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup[table]{position=bottom}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|r|l|}
\hline
\textbf{Paramagnetic metal}&\textbf{Magnetic susceptibility}\\
\hline
Tungsten&$6.8~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Aluminium&$2.2~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Lithium&$1.4~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Magnesium&$1.2~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Sodium&$0.72~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Magnetic susceptibility  of some selected paramagnetic metals}
\end{table}
\end{document}


It produces this:

Now I would like to add some space between the \hline and -5 and as well maintain the table look as such (without making it lengthier (I mean visibly)). When I see my document, it feels like, -5 is touching the line, which I don't want

I would use booktabs too, avoiding rules as much as possible; but also siunitx for the second column, in order to fully align the numbers. Also the data are easier to input.

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
% load the golden pair for numeric tables
\usepackage{siunitx,booktabs}

\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup[table]{position=bottom}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{ l S[table-format=1.2E-1] }
\toprule
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{Paramagnetic}} & {\textbf{Magnetic}}       \\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{metal}}        & {\textbf{susceptibility}} \\
\midrule
Tungsten  & 6.8E-5\\
Aluminium & 2.2E-5\\
Lithium   & 1.4E-5\\
Magnesium & 1.2E-5\\
Sodium    & 0.72E-5\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Magnetic susceptibility  of some selected paramagnetic metals}
\end{table}
\end{document}


Breaking the headers into two rows makes the table narrower and easier to read. The first column should be left aligned, rather than right aligned.

The value for table-format is easy to explain: your numbers have one digit for the integer part and at most two for the decimal part; then they have an exponential part, one digit with minus sign. Thus 1.2E-1

The headers for the second column should be braced, in order for siunitx to center them.

Package array provides \extrarowheight, which adds extra space to the height of the rows:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup[table]{position=bottom}
\usepackage{amstext}
\usepackage{array}
\setlength{\extrarowheight}{2pt}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|r|l|}
\hline
\textbf{Paramagnetic metal}&\textbf{Magnetic susceptibility}\\
\hline
Tungsten&$6.8~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Aluminium&$2.2~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Lithium&$1.4~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Magnesium&$1.2~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
Sodium&$0.72~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Magnetic susceptibility  of some selected paramagnetic metals}
\end{table}
\end{document}


And without the many ugly lines:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{caption}
\captionsetup[table]{position=bottom}
\usepackage{amstext}
\usepackage{array}
%\setlength{\extrarowheight}{2pt}% not really needed here
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{rl}
\toprule
\textbf{Paramagnetic metal}&\textbf{Magnetic susceptibility}\\
\midrule
Tungsten&$6.8~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
Aluminium&$2.2~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
Lithium&$1.4~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
Magnesium&$1.2~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
Sodium&$0.72~\text{x}~10^{-5}$\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Magnetic susceptibility  of some selected paramagnetic metals}
\end{table}
\end{document}


• How do you get the light ping color in your background??? please tell me – subham soni Jul 18 '14 at 16:26
• @subhamsoni: I am putting the images inside a quotation: > ![...][...]. And I am generating the images with transparent background (ghostscript's pngalpha device or making it transparent using gimp). – Heiko Oberdiek Jul 18 '14 at 16:27