Modifying spacing inside align

Question

I am trying to type this into LaTeX, but I have difficulties with the spacing between the equalities.

This is what I have tried:

Code:

\begin{align*}
    6 \times \left( 3+5 \right) &=  6 \times \left( 8 \right) &&= 48\\
    6 \times \left( 3+5 \right) &= 6 \times 3 + 6 \times 5 &= 18 + 30 &= 48
\end{align*}

Output:

I would really appreciate any help you can provide.

Answer 1

I propose a solution using matrix environment:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
\[
    \begin{matrix}
        2\times(8-3)&=&2\times5&=&10,\\
        2\times(8-3)&=&2\times-2\times3&=&16-6&=&10.
    \end{matrix}
\]
\end{document}

Answer 2

I think you need to use the alignat environment, which gives you full control on the spacing between alignment columns. See it this code befits you:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

\begin{alignat*}{2}
    6 \times \left( 3+5 \right) &= 6 \times \left( 8 \right) &&= 48\\
    6 \times \left( 3+5 \right) &= 6 \times 3 + 6 \times 5 &= 18 + 30 &= 48
\end{alignat*}

\end{document} 

Answer 3

Two things:

1. align has a right-left alignment around & while you want some elements to be centred;

2. align inserts a large space between successive & to separate equations.

I'd suggest alignat with some box manipulations thanks to eqparbox:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath,eqparbox}

\begin{document}

\begin{alignat*}{2}
  2 \times (8 - 3) &=       \eqmakebox[c1]{$2 \times 5$}        &       & \eqmakebox[c2]{}         = 10, \\
  2 \times (8 - 3) &= \eqmakebox[c1]{$2 \times 8 - 2 \times 3$} & {}={} & \eqmakebox[c2]{$16 - 6$} = 10.
\end{alignat*}


\begin{alignat*}{2}
  6 \times ( 3 + 5 ) &=     \eqmakebox[c3]{$6 \times ( 8 )$}      &       & \eqmakebox[c4]{}           = 48, \\
  6 \times ( 3 + 5 ) &= \eqmakebox[c3]{$6 \times 3 + 6 \times 5$} & {}={} & \eqmakebox[c4]{$18 + 30$} = 48.
\end{alignat*}

\end{document}

\eqmakebox[<tag>][<align>]{<stuff>} aligns all <stuff> (set in text mode) with the same <tag> according to the specified <align>ment (default is centre, otherwise it can be left or right).

Answer 4

\begin{tabular}{llll} 6 $\times$ ( 3+5 ) & = 6 $\times$ ( 8 ) & &= 48\ 6 $\times$ ( 3+5 ) & = 6 $\times$ 3 + 6 $\times$ 5 &= 18 + 30 &= 48 \end{tabular} How about trying this? \left( and \right) are in math mo

Answer 5

\begin{tabular}{lllllll}
 6 $\times$ ( 3+5 ) & = & 6 $\times$ ( 8 ) & = &&=& 48\\
  6 $\times$ ( 3+5 ) & = &6 $\times$ 3 + 6 $\times$ 5 &= &18 + 30 &=& 48\\
   \end{tabular}

I added extra tabular columns for each = sign to improve according to your suggestions. When we write maths equations we use \( and \). In normal text one need not have back slashes for these brackets. For brackets [], and { } one had to use back slashes, because these brackets are a part of commands. You can test this sentence, "Here I am writing (good news) that we are safe. But quarantine is creating [tension] and {health problems}." Please feel free to comment on it.

Answer 6

\begin{tabular}{clcc}
  $   6 \times \left( 3+5 \right)$ & $= 6 \times \left( 8 \right)$ &&= 48\\
  $ 6 \times \left( 3+5 \right)$ & $= 6 \times 3 + 6 \times 5 $&$= 18 + 30$ &= 48
 \end{tabular}

You can try this. This looks better than align.