Tabu vertical text overrun and multirow

I am trying to use the tabu environment as I have heard it is sort of the latest and greatest in table making. I am having a weird issue where the text is spilling in the cells below when using multirow. I have included a MWE below (I have not cleaned up the usepackages just in case there are some issues there - I may have things in there that are conflicting or redundant. Some of the things under the TABLE STUFF comment is from other experiments. Essentially I am trying to just find the easiest table solution.

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[nottoc]{tocbibind}
\usepackage{tocloft}
\hypersetup{
citecolor=black,
filecolor=black,
urlcolor=black
}
%%%%%TABLE STUFF
\usepackage{makecell}
\usepackage[flushleft]{threeparttable}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{booktabs,caption}
\usepackage{array}
\newcolumntype{M}[1]{>{\centering\arraybackslash}m{#1\textwidth}}
\newcolumntype{L}[1]{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}m{#1\textwidth}}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{tabulary}
\usepackage{tabu}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\newpage
\listoffigures
\newpage
\listoftables

\newpage
\begingroup
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\begin{tabu} to \textwidth {X X X X X}
\toprule
Quantity & Symbol & Defining Equation & SI Unit & Units Definition \\ \midrule
mass  & m & \multirow{4}{\linewidth}{Basic physical units defined arbitrarily and maintained in standardization laboratories}  & kilogram (kg)  \\
length  & l &  & meter (m) \\
time  & t &  & second (s)  \\
current  & I &  & ampere (A)  \\
force  & F & F = mass * acceleration  & newton (N)  & 1 N = 1 kgms-2 \\
energy  & E & E = Force * length  & joule (J)  & 1 J = 1 kgm2 s-2 \\
power  & P & P = E / t  & watt (W)  & 1 W = 1 J/s \\
frequency  & f, v & number per second  & hertz (Hz)  & 1 Hz = 1 s-1 \\
charge  & Q & Q = I t  & coulomb (C)  & 1 C = 1 A s \\
potential  & V & V = E / Q  & volt (V)  & 1 V = 1 J/C \\
\multirow{2}{*}[-1.05ex]{absorbed dose}  & D & E absorbed from ionizing radiation per kg  & gray (Gy)  & 1 Gy = 1 J / kg \\
&  &  &  & 1 Gy = 100 rads \\
exposure  & X & Q liberated by ionizing radiation per kg of air  & C kg-1  & roentgen, R (old) \\
&  &  &  & 1 R = 2.58x10-4 C/kg \\
activity  & A & disintigrations of radioactive material per t  & becquerel (Bq)  & 1 Bq = 1 s-1 \\
&  &  &  & 1 Ci (curie, old) = 3.7x1010 Bq \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabu}
\endgroup

\end{document}

• Please keep in mind that the tabu package is currently unmaintained. (See: github.com/tabu-issues-for-future-maintainer/tabu) I'd recomment tabularx instead. – leandriis Sep 12 '19 at 13:08
• Also keep in mind that the hyperref package should generally (with a few exceptions) be the last package in a preamble. – leandriis Sep 12 '19 at 13:14
• Will your table become longer than it currently is, so will you need a pagebreak within the table? And would you be willing to change (decrease) the margins of your document? – leandriis Sep 12 '19 at 13:14
• For typesetting the si units, you might be interested in the siunitx package. – leandriis Sep 12 '19 at 13:16
• Thanks for these comments, the table will not increase in length. Thanks for the suggestion on siunitx, I will take a look! – thatguy14 Sep 12 '19 at 14:07

Update

I have added the before missing \multirow command and also improved the alignment of the units definitions of "absorbed dose", "activity" and "exposure". This way, the table can easily fit into a single page without decreasing the margins or the font size.

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{makecell}

\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{booktabs,caption}
\usepackage{array}

\newcolumntype{L}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}
\usepackage{tabularx}

\usepackage{siunitx}

\usepackage{pdflscape} % For second example only
%% \usepackage{geometrx} % Used for the third screenshot
\begin{document}
{\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{l l L l L}
\toprule
Quantity & Symbol & Defining Equation & SI Unit & Units Definition \\ \midrule
mass  & m & \multirow{4.5}{=}{Basic physical units defined arbitrarily and maintained in standardization laboratories}  & kilogram (kg)  \\
length  & l &  & meter (m) \\
time  & t &  & second (s)  \\
current  & I &  & ampere (A)  \\
\\
force  & F & F = mass * acceleration  & newton (\si{\newton})  & \SI{1}{\newton} = \SI{1}{\kilogram\meter\per\square\second} \\
energy  & E & E = Force * length  & joule (\si{\J})  & \SI{1}{\J} = \SI{1}{\kg\square\m\per\square\s} \\
power  & P & P = E / t  & watt (W)  & 1 W = 1 J/s \\
frequency  & f, v & number per second  & hertz (Hz)  & 1 Hz = 1 s-1 \\
charge  & Q & Q = I t  & coulomb (C)  & 1 C = 1 A s \\
potential  & V & V = E / Q  & volt (V)  & 1 V = 1 J/C \\
\makecell[tl]{absorbed\\ dose}  & D & E absorbed from ionizing radiation per kg  & gray (Gy)  & 1 Gy = 1 J / kg \newline 1 Gy = 100 rads \\
exposure  & X & Q liberated by ionizing radiation per kg of air  & C kg-1  & roentgen, R (old) \newline 1 R = 2.58x10-4 C/kg \\
activity  & A & disintigrations of radioactive material per t  & becquerel (Bq)  & 1 Bq = 1 s-1 \newline 1 Ci (curie, old) = 3.7x1010 Bq\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}}

\end{document}


Here are three versions of your table:

\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{makecell}

\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{booktabs,caption}
\usepackage{array}

\newcolumntype{L}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}
\usepackage{tabularx}

\usepackage{siunitx}

\usepackage{pdflscape} % For second example only
%% \usepackage{geometrx} % Used for the third screenshot
\begin{document}
{\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{l l L l L}
\toprule
Quantity & Symbol & Defining Equation & SI Unit & Units Definition \\ \midrule
mass  & m & Basic physical units defined arbitrarily and maintained in standardization laboratories  & kilogram (kg)  \\
length  & l &  & meter (m) \\
time  & t &  & second (s)  \\
current  & I &  & ampere (A)  \\
force  & F & F = mass * acceleration  & newton (\si{\newton})  & \SI{1}{\newton} = \SI{1}{\kilogram\meter\per\square\second} \\
energy  & E & E = Force * length  & joule (\si{\J})  & \SI{1}{\J} = \SI{1}{\kg\square\m\per\square\s} \\
power  & P & P = E / t  & watt (W)  & 1 W = 1 J/s \\
frequency  & f, v & number per second  & hertz (Hz)  & 1 Hz = 1 s-1 \\
charge  & Q & Q = I t  & coulomb (C)  & 1 C = 1 A s \\
potential  & V & V = E / Q  & volt (V)  & 1 V = 1 J/C \\
\makecell[tl]{absorbed\\ dose}  & D & E absorbed from ionizing radiation per kg  & gray (Gy)  & 1 Gy = 1 J / kg \\
&  &  &  & 1 Gy = 100 rads \\
exposure  & X & Q liberated by ionizing radiation per kg of air  & C kg-1  & roentgen, R (old) \\
&  &  &  & 1 R = 2.58x10-4 C/kg \\
activity  & A & disintigrations of radioactive material per t  & becquerel (Bq)  & 1 Bq = 1 s-1 \\
&  &  &  & 1 Ci (curie, old) = 3.7x1010 Bq \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}}

\begin{landscape}
\noindent
{\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{l l L l l}
\toprule
Quantity & Symbol & Defining Equation & SI Unit & Units Definition \\ \midrule
mass  & m & Basic physical units defined arbitrarily and maintained in standardization laboratories  & kilogram (kg)  \\
length  & l &  & meter (m) \\
time  & t &  & second (s)  \\
current  & I &  & ampere (A)  \\
force  & F & F = mass * acceleration  & newton (\si{\newton})  & \SI{1}{\newton} = \SI{1}{\kilogram\meter\per\square\second} \\
energy  & E & E = Force * length  & joule (\si{\J})  & \SI{1}{\J} = \SI{1}{\kg\square\m\per\square\s} \\
power  & P & P = E / t  & watt (W)  & 1 W = 1 J/s \\
frequency  & f, v & number per second  & hertz (Hz)  & 1 Hz = 1 s-1 \\
charge  & Q & Q = I t  & coulomb (C)  & 1 C = 1 A s \\
potential  & V & V = E / Q  & volt (V)  & 1 V = 1 J/C \\
\makecell[tl]{absorbed\\ dose}  & D & E absorbed from ionizing radiation per kg  & gray (Gy)  & 1 Gy = 1 J / kg \\
&  &  &  & 1 Gy = 100 rads \\
exposure  & X & Q liberated by ionizing radiation per kg of air  & C kg-1  & roentgen, R (old) \\
&  &  &  & 1 R = 2.58x10-4 C/kg \\
activity  & A & disintigrations of radioactive material per t  & becquerel (Bq)  & 1 Bq = 1 s-1 \\
&  &  &  & 1 Ci (curie, old) = 3.7x1010 Bq \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}}
\end{landscape}

\end{document}


If your table gets longer and you need a pagebreak within the table, I'd suggest to replace tabularx with xltabular.

• Hi sorry, all 3 versions of that table do not have a multirow for the long sentence at the top which is the problem I am trying to overcome. – thatguy14 Sep 12 '19 at 14:06
• @thatguy14: Sorry, I removed the multirow command because I didn't get its purpose. I just now came to realize that you wanted the text in the third column to continue for mass, lenght, tie and current. I will add an update in a minute. – leandriis Sep 12 '19 at 14:16
• @thatguy14: I have added an update. – leandriis Sep 12 '19 at 14:23

Leandriis comments made me realize that this is due to the fact that the table could not extend past 1 page and this overrun was due to this (i.e., the table was too big for 1 page so it compressed it). This was fixed by either changing the font size or increasing the margins