# Aligning the \text in formula

I have, let's say, 5 of the equations spread throughout the document and I want them to be aligned similarly. The equation consist of two parts -- the formula itself and short descriptions (let's say boundaries). Obviously, there can be a lot of text (plus figures between) between any two equations. Can all the equations (and their parts) be aligned in the same way? This is an example:

$G=G_{I}=\begin{cases} \cfrac{K_{I}^{2}}{E} & \text{plane stress}\\ \cfrac{(1-\nu^{2})K_{I}^{2}}{E} & \text{plane strain} \end{cases}$


One equations with two lines, short comment about them, the part on the right aligned in the same way. However, I can't find a solution to align these throughtout the document (i.e., in multiple equations). It should look something like this

but the boundaries in this case are misaligned and the & operator can't be used. Is there a feature I'm missing or a workaround?

• & should be used within align. For one line equation you can simply use \quad to insert some horizontal space. – Sigur Dec 11 '14 at 13:26
• I don't understand what you want. It doesn't make sense to use alignment in one-lined math expressions; simply use, say, \qquad to add some horizontal space. – Svend Tveskæg Dec 11 '14 at 13:26
• Welcome to TeX.SX! The coding you suggest is rather non-standard. Can you explain what you are trying to achieve? – Andrew Swann Dec 11 '14 at 13:27
• Note that you are missing }, but this is not the reason for the problem. – Sigur Dec 11 '14 at 13:31
• For future questions: It's a good idea to always post a minimal working example when asking (or answering) a question. – Svend Tveskæg Dec 13 '14 at 12:15

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

\noindent Something\dots
\begin{alignat*}{2}
K_{C} &= \sqrt{EG_{c}} &\qquad &\text{(plane stress)}\\
\intertext{further description of the equation}
K_{c} &= \sqrt{\frac{EG_{c}}{1-\nu^{2}}} &&\text{(plane strain)}
\end{alignat*}
Something\dots

\end{document}


• That´s basically what I want but when used for multiple single-line formulas it does this !link and I would really like the two notes next to equations to be aligned. – Birimaratoa Dec 11 '14 at 13:53
• @VáclavŠefl See updated answer. – Svend Tveskæg Dec 11 '14 at 13:58
• On the other hand - this is not very practical if the "further description of the equeations" should be a longer text, possibly including figures. If it is treated as intertext I´d lose a whole bunch of formatting capabilities, is that right? So to rephrase my original question - I have, let´s say 5 of the equations shown above, spread throughout the document and I want them to be aligned similarly. (like each of those above). Can this be done without them being in the same group? – Birimaratoa Dec 11 '14 at 14:18
• @VáclavŠefl -- you've just expressed an important criterion in your comment. it would be much more visible added to the question; you should be able to edit the question to include it. – barbara beeton Dec 11 '14 at 14:21
• @VáclavŠefl Next time, please include the entire question the first time you post it! (Now you've asked for something additional twice...) – Svend Tveskæg Dec 11 '14 at 14:30