# Need linebreaks in some columns of a wide table

I am trying to create linebreaks in some of the cells of my table, since I have long sentences and the table doesn't fit on an A4 page. How to let LaTeX choose the linebreaks?

Here is my code

\begin{table}[hbt]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{lllllll}
\toprule
&  Raumgewicht $\gamma$'$_m$ and [$\frac{kN}{m^3}$] &Reibungswinkel $\phi$'$_m$[]& Kohäsion c'[] & M$_E$-Wert []& N$_SPT$ [] & k-Wert []  \\
\midrule
Auffüllungen/Deckschicht& 18& 27 & 0 & 10* & 17 & -\\
Rückstausedimente nicht vorbelastes& 21 & 28 & 10 & 10 & 15 & $5\times10^-8$ - $1\times10^-6$ \\
Rückstausedimente vorbelastet & 22 & 32 & 10 & >50 & 91 & $5\times10^-8$ - $1\times10^-6$ \\
Moräne & 22 & 36 & 5 & >50 & >100 & $1\times10^-8$ - $5\times10^-6$\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Bodenkennwerte}
\label{tab:Bodenkennwerte}
\end{table}


My preamble is

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{stackengine}
\usepackage[top=3cm, bottom=2.5cm, left=2.5cm, right=2.5cm, footskip = 1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{hyperref}

• You can add line breaks by using a columns of a specific width, i.e. replace l with p{2cm}. However this will not be enough to squeeze this large table on a normal page, maybe use a landscape page instead. – user36296 Mar 18 '18 at 13:54

Here is a suggesstion on how to change your code in order to display the table on one page:

What I changed in comparison to your original code:

• Added \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} in order to display > signs correctly.
• Used sidewaystable from the rotating package in order to rotate the table as it is too wide to fit on a portrait page.
• Included makecell in order to insert linebreaks in cells where needed
• Included the siunitx package to
• align numerical values in their columns
• easier input and format units
• easier input and format ranges of numbers

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage[top=3cm, bottom=2.5cm, left=2.5cm, right=2.5cm, footskip = 1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage{makecell}
\usepackage{siunitx}
\sisetup{range-phrase=--}

\begin{document}

\begin{sidewaystable}[hbt]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{lS[table-format=2]S[table-format=2]S[table-format=2]S[table-format=>2]S[table-format=>3]S}
\toprule
&  {\makecell{Raumgewicht \\ $\gamma$'$_m$ and [\si{\kilo\newton\per\cubic\meter}]}} & {\makecell{Reibungswinkel \\ $\phi$'$_m$[]}}& {\makecell{Kohäsion \\ c'[]}} & {M$_E$-Wert []}& {N$_SPT$  []} & {k-Wert []}  \\
\midrule
Auffüllungen/Deckschicht& 18& 27 & 0 & 10* & 17 & {-}\\
Rückstausedimente nicht vorbelastet  & 21 & 28 & 10 & 10 & 15 & \numrange{5e-8}{1e-6} \\
Rückstausedimente vorbelastet & 22 & 32 & 10 & >50 & 91 & \numrange{5e-8}{1e-6} \\
Moräne & 22 & 36 & 5 & >50 & >100 & \numrange{1e-8}{5e-6}\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption{Bodenkennwerte}
\label{tab:Bodenkennwerte}
\end{sidewaystable}

\end{document}


Automatic line breaking is needed in the first column as well as in 3 of the 6 data columns. I suggest you employ a tabularx environment to achieve this objective.

I'd also like to suggest that you (a) center the contents of the 6 data columns, (b) place the units (in square brackets) on a separate row from the rest of the header material, and (c) use the \num and \si macros of the siunitx package to typeset (formatted) numbers and scientific units.

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[top=3cm, bottom=2.5cm, hmargin=2.5cm, footskip = 1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\usepackage{graphicx,booktabs,tabularx,ragged2e,siunitx}
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\Centering\arraybackslash\hspace{0pt}}X}
\newcolumntype{L}{>{\RaggedRight\arraybackslash\hspace{0pt}}X}

\usepackage{hyperref}

\hyphenation{Rück-stau-sedi-mente}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}[hbt]
\setlength\tabcolsep{4pt}
\sisetup{tight-spacing=true,per-mode=symbol}
\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{@{} L CCcccC @{}}
\toprule
& Raumgewicht $\gamma'_m$
& Reibungswinkel $\phi'_m$
& Kohäsion $c'$
& $M_E$\kern1pt-Wert
& $N_{SPT}$
& $k$-Wert \\
& [\si{\kilo\newton\per\meter\cubed}]
& [${}\cdot{}$] & [${}\cdot{}$] & [${}\cdot{}$] & [${}\cdot{}$] & [${}\cdot{}$] \\
\midrule
%% Aside: One must break up the f-f ligature in "Auffüllungen"
Auf"|fül\-lungen\slash Deckschicht& 18& 27 & 0 & 10* & 17 & -- \\ \addlinespace
Rückstausedimente nicht vorbelastet& 21 & 28 & 10 & 10 & 15
Rückstausedimente vorbelastet & 22 & 32 & 10 & $>50$ & 91
Moräne & 22 & 36 & 5 & $>50$ & $>100$