# I want the same vertical space between a paragraph and an equation as there is between a paragraph and aligned maths, how do I do this?

I'm doing a very basic mathematical typesetting homework. I know it won't make any difference to the marks, but it is really annoying me that there is more space before an aligned environment than before an equation in math mode.

\begin{itemize}

%item(i)
\item[(i)] Einstein is constantly being referenced in popular culture, Einstein wrote:

$E^2=(mc^2)^2+(pc)^2$

The equation we know best is $E=mc^2$, this is for a non-moving object, where $p$, the momentum, is equal to zero, if $p=0$ then

\begin{align*}
E^2&=(mc^2)^2+(pc)^2\\
&=(mc^2)^2+(0)^2\\
&=(mc^2)^2\\
E&=mc^2
\end{align*}

\end{itemize}


Does anyone know why this happens? Is there a better way of doing this than putting the equation in an align environment?

• Do not use empty lines immediately before a display-math environment such as align*. In other words: If you remove / comment out the empty line before \begin{align*} and  the spaces will be equal. – leandriis Dec 1 '19 at 18:15 • Yes, that's it, thanks. Such a simple, silly mistake – am4ci Dec 1 '19 at 18:24 ## 1 Answer If I understand your problem right, this happens only because you left a blank line in the code between the text and the align environment. You could add a % on the blank lines, or simply not leave any blank lines. The following code removes much of the spacing. Does it solve your problem? \documentclass{article} \usepackage{amsmath} \begin{document} \begin{itemize} %item(i) \item[(i)] Einstein is constantly being referenced in popular culture, Einstein wrote: % \[ E^2=(mc^2)^2+(pc)^2
%
The equation we know best is $E=mc^2$, this is for a non-moving object, where $p$, the momentum, is equal to zero, if $p=0$ then
%
\begin{align*}
E^2&=(mc^2)^2+(pc)^2\\
&=(mc^2)^2+(0)^2\\
&=(mc^2)^2\\
E&=mc^2
\end{align*}

\end{itemize}

\end{document}


• Awesome, thanks! Such a simple and silly mistake. – am4ci Dec 1 '19 at 18:24