# Different equation position control in the two column paper

In two column paper, I have long equations. I want one of the equations to be appear at the bottom of the current page. I have another equation which I want to be appear at the top of the second page. How I can control these equation positions?

I provide below example.

\documentclass[journal]{IEEEtran}

\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\begin{document}

\title{\huge equation position control in two column paper}

\maketitle

\section{First} \label{first}

\lipsum[1-6]

\textbf{We need the first equation appear at the bottom of the first page.}

\begin{figure*}[!btp]
\normalsize
\begin{align} \label{eqn_first}
first & = aaa aaa aaa aaa + aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa + aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa + aaa aaa aaa aaa
\end{align}
\hrulefill
\vspace*{4pt}
\end{figure*}

\lipsum[2-5]

\section{Second} \label{second}

\lipsum[3-8]

\textbf{We need the second equation appear at the top of the second page.}

\begin{figure*}[!tbp]
\normalsize
\begin{align} \label{eqn_second}
second & = bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb + bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb +bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb +bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb
\end{align}
\hrulefill
\vspace*{4pt}
\end{figure*}

\lipsum[4-8]

\end{document}
• Equations are (should not be) floats hence they don't move around. Try breaking the equation in to multiple lines. – user11232 May 10 '15 at 23:39
• No two column float can appear on the same page where it is announced. So there's no way to make it appear in the first page. – egreg May 10 '15 at 23:49
• Moreover, in a two-column layout, LaTeX will only position full-width floats at the top of a page. No point in providing the [!tbp] positioning directive... – Mico May 11 '15 at 0:27
• @Mico the stfloats package adds b, and double column floats can be p – David Carlisle May 11 '15 at 0:32
• @DavidCarlisle - I stand corrected! Always glad to learn something new. :-) – Mico May 11 '15 at 0:46

\documentclass[journal]{IEEEtran}

\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{stfloats}

\begin{document}

\title{\huge equation position control in two column paper}

\maketitle
\enlargethispage{-2cm}

\section{First} \label{first}

\begin{picture}(0,0)
\put(0,-600){\hspace{-\parindent}\parbox{\textwidth}{%
\hrulefill
\vspace*{4pt}
\normalsize
\begin{align} \label{eqn_first}
first & = aaa aaa aaa aaa + aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa + aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa + aaa aaa aaa aaa
\end{align}}}
\end{picture}%
\begin{figure*}[!tbp]
\normalsize
\begin{align} \label{eqn_second}
second & = bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb + bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb +bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb +bbb bbb bbb bbb bbb
\end{align}
\vspace*{4pt}
\hrulefill
\end{figure*}%
\lipsum[1-6]

\textbf{We need the first equation appear at the bottom of the first page.}
\enlargethispage{-2cm}

\lipsum[2-5]

\section{Second} \label{second}

\lipsum[3-8]

\textbf{We need the second equation appear at the top of the second page.}

\lipsum[4-8]

\end{document}
• Thank you very much. It works with this example, however when I use it in my paper, it makes overlap with the text. I mean the equation is fine its position is at the bottom of the page, but it is over the text. – sky-light May 11 '15 at 10:21
• @barznjy yes sure, that's expected: You need to hand tune the -2cm to leave enough space for your equation, and you need to hand tune the -600 to lower the equation in to place. that's the price you pay for stepping outside the functionality latex provides automatically. – David Carlisle May 11 '15 at 10:24
• Very user friendly code. ;-) I'm not sure the people at IEEE will be happy, though, because usually the footer of the first page contains relevant information. – egreg May 11 '15 at 10:26
• @egreg You are right. In the above example, when I said first page I meant the first page of the example, not the first page of the IEEE paper. Definitely, there is no long equation at the first page bottom in the IEEE paper (as it is reserved for paper and authors information). The purpose of my question was to know how to put different equation positions (bottom and top) in the same two-column paper. – sky-light May 11 '15 at 10:45
• @barznjy Oh in that case you don't need this you can just use a [b] float (with stfloats package.) – David Carlisle May 11 '15 at 10:54