# how to combine two tables in one table in order to show data in better form?

I wanted to combine these two tables. I want one table with three rows and five columns. The first row for pre-etch and 2nd row for post-etch. Five columns could be center, top,bottom, right and left. How should I do that. I have this at the moment.

  \begin{table}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.33\linewidth}\centering
\caption{Measurement of oxide thickness for blank wafer before etch (pre etch)} \label{tab:1}
\label{tab:fonts}
\begin{tabular}{|l|S[table-format=5.0,
table-space-text-post=\si{\angstrom}]<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|}
\hline
center  &   5114    \\  \hline
top     &   5236    \\  \hline
right   &   5196    \\  \hline
bottom  &   5156    \\  \hline
left    &   5211    \\  \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}
\hfil
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.33\linewidth}\centering
\caption{Measurement of oxide thickness for blank wafer after etch (post etch)} \label{tab:2}
\label{tab:fonts}
\begin{tabular}{|l|S[table-format=5.0,
table-space-text-post=\si{\angstrom}]<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|}
\hline
center  &   3088    \\  \hline
top     &   3154    \\  \hline
right   &   3133    \\  \hline
bottom  &   3043    \\  \hline
left    &   3112    \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}
\end{table}

• I would really recommend you to keep "Pre etch" and "Post etch" as columns. A table with twice as many columns as rows rarely looks good. Also, it is pretty common to keep data series in columns rather than rows.
– sodd
Mar 3 '16 at 9:23

### Three columns

Personally I'd recommend the following improvements to your table:

1. Keep the data series "Pre etch" and "Post etch" in columns rather than rows, as that is easier to read. Keep "Center", "Top" etc. in the stub column to the left (first column).
2. Remove most of the horizontal lines and all vertical lines.
3. Instead of repeating the unit after each cell value, it is common to place the unit in the column heading to avoid repetition that does not add any information.

My preferred solution would be something like:

\documentclass[preview,border=5pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\usepackage{booktabs} % <-- To get prettier rules in tables
\usepackage{caption} % <-- To set caption width etc.

\begin{document}

\begin{table}
\centering
\captionsetup{width=6cm}
\caption{Measurement of oxide thickness for blank wafer before (pre etch) and after etch (post etch).}
\label{tab:1}
\begin{tabular}{l *{2}{S[table-format=4.0]}}
\toprule
& {Pre etch} & {Post etch} \\
& \si{\angstrom} & \si{\angstrom} \\
\midrule
Center  &       5114 &        3088 \\
Top     &       5236 &        3154 \\
Right   &       5196 &        3133 \\
Bottom  &       5156 &        3043 \\
Left    &       5211 &        3112 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\end{document}


### Six columns

Although I find this layout harder to read, if this is really the layout you want, something like this might do the trick (removed most lines in this table as well):

\documentclass[preview,border=5pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\usepackage{booktabs} % <-- To get prettier rules in tables
\usepackage{caption} % <-- To set caption width etc.

\begin{document}

\begin{table}
\centering
\captionsetup{width=9cm}
\caption{Measurement of oxide thickness for blank wafer before (pre etch) and after etch (post etch).}
\label{tab:1}
\begin{tabular}{l *{5}{S[table-format=4.0]}}
\toprule
& {Center} & {Top} & {Right} & {Bottom} & {Left} \\
& \si{\angstrom} & \si{\angstrom} & \si{\angstrom} & \si{\angstrom} & \si{\angstrom} \\
\midrule
Pre etch   &     5114 &  5236 &    5196 &     5156 &   5211 \\
Post etch  &     3088 &  3154 &    3133 &     3043 &   3112 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\end{document}


To avoid repetition of the unit for each column, you can write something along the lines of "All data are presented with the unit Ångström." and remove the row containing the units.

• Six column approach looks nice. You could add a vertical line in row 3 and 4 after the first column. Other possible tweak is to put the unit in square brackets and put it in row 1 ( Center [A] ). Mar 4 '16 at 12:00
• @Me_Maikey. No, a vertical line has no effect other than to make the tables look ugly, as it does not increase readability of the table. Typographically vertical lines in tables are almost never needed or wanted. As for units, they should not be put in square brackets, as in most scientific fields those are used to denote dimensions as in dimensional analysis. Thus it is often considered wrong to typeset units in square brackets. It is often best to keep units either in parentheses or on a line by themselves.
– sodd
Mar 4 '16 at 12:07
• It seems that question got interest, but I do not see any upvote! Mar 4 '16 at 16:18

## Two tables merged

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\caption{Combined result} \label{tab:etch}
\begin{tabular}{|l|S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|}
\hline
& \multicolumn{1}{c|}{Pre-etch} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{Post-etch} \\ \hline
center  &   5114    &   3088    \\  \hline
top     &   5236    &   3154    \\  \hline
right   &   5196    &   3133    \\  \hline
bottom  &   5156    &   3043    \\  \hline
left    &   5211    &   3112    \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}


## Three rows, five (six) columns

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\centering
\caption{Combined result} \label{tab:etch}
\begin{tabular}{|l|S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|
S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|S<{\si{\angstrom}\ }|}
\hline
& \multicolumn{1}{l|}{center} & \multicolumn{1}{l|}{top} & \multicolumn{1}{l|}{right}
& \multicolumn{1}{l|}{bottom} & \multicolumn{1}{l|}{left} \\ \hline
Pre-etch & 5114 & 5236 & 5196 & 5156 & 5211 \\ \hline
Post-etch & 3088 & 3154 & 3133& 3043 & 3112 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}


Is this what you are looking for?

## Explanation

I used multicol to make a multicolumn of 1 column wide to adjust the format. Alternatively you can use the tabu package as shown in this question.