# Space after symbol and the letters after the symbol

I got this table.

\begin{table}[h]

\caption{Table caption}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.25}

\begin{tabular}{ l | 1 | 1 | 1 }
\hline
Something [Nr] & \Delta y [m/s] & \Delta x  [s] & a [m/s^2] \\
\hline
1.          & 0.6      & 2.4847 & 0.24148    \\
2.          & 0.43     & 1.7630 & 0.24390    \\
3.          & 0.38     & 1.5829 & 0.24007    \\
4.          & 0.30     & 1.1617 & 0.25824    \\
5.          & 0.45     & 1.8024 & 0.24967    \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}


The problem is that I have used some symbols which I cannot make a space after. Also the letter after the symbol cant have a space after it.

For example from the code I want a \Delta symbol like this

Δy [m/s]

Intstead I get this:

Δy[m/s]

Also I wonder how I get it like this if I would need to at another time:

Δ y [m/s]

• What's a 1 type column? – Sverre Dec 2 '15 at 15:43
• @Sverre -- that's "ell", not "one". wretched fonts apparently don't make a reasonable distinction. – barbara beeton Dec 2 '15 at 20:35
• not mentioned in the answers, but it seems you must have gotten an error in the log about $ being inserted. that's a dead giveaway that math mode isn't being invoked properly. – barbara beeton Dec 2 '15 at 20:37 ## 1 Answer Math expressions (like greek letters, variables, and superscripting) need to be delimited with dollar signs, as in $\Delta y$[m/s], for example. Also, in general (non-math mode), adding a {} after a macro prevents subsequent space from being absorbed. Although in this case (math mode), explicit space (~ or \,) would be required if you wanted space between the delta and the variable. Compare, for example, \Delta\,y (space added) to \Delta x (no space added) in the following MWE: \documentclass{article} \begin{document} \begin{table}[h] \caption{Table caption} \centering \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.25} \begin{tabular}{ l | l | l | l } \hline Something [Nr] &$\Delta\,y$[m/s] &$\Delta x$[s] &$a$[m/s$^2$] \\ \hline 1. & 0.6 & 2.4847 & 0.24148 \\ 2. & 0.43 & 1.7630 & 0.24390 \\ 3. & 0.38 & 1.5829 & 0.24007 \\ 4. & 0.30 & 1.1617 & 0.25824 \\ 5. & 0.45 & 1.8024 & 0.24967 \\ \hline \end{tabular} \end{table} \end{document}  • Though normally x and y would be set in italics using maths mode: $\Delta y\$ [m/s]etc. (sticking with the square brackets). – Chris H Dec 2 '15 at 13:49
• @ChrisH Of course you are right. Pardon my omission. Corrected. – Steven B. Segletes Dec 2 '15 at 13:51
• As a remark on style my comment was addressed at least as much to the OP, but I appear to have become rather picky about such things. – Chris H Dec 2 '15 at 17:24
• @ChrisH That nit needed to be picked. Keep it up. – Steven B. Segletes Dec 2 '15 at 17:31