Undesirable alignment in series of 'enumerates'

Question

(I'll preface this question by saying that there seem to be quite a few question on tex.se with keywords 'align' and 'enumerate', but it seems as if they all deal with questions regarding alignment within the enumerate environment or combining the the align and enumerate environments - so I don't believe that my question is redundant.)

Here's the gist of what I am doing and what issue has come about. I am typing up solutions to a, say, three-part (math) question, the parts being enumerated as (i),(ii), and (iii). After stating each part, I wish to write the solution right underneath. So it should look like

(i) Q

A

(ii) Q

A

(iii) Q

A

Perhaps it's not the most efficient way of typing it up (by all means, feel free to recommend something else) but I've done this as

\begin{enumerate}[(i)]
\item question 1
\end{enumerate}
answer 1

\begin{enumerate}[(ii)]
\item question 2
\end{enumerate}
answer 2

\begin{enumerate}[(iii)]
\item question 3
\end{enumerate}
answer 3

However, the way it comes out has (iii) shifted further right than (ii), which is shifted further right than (i). Can anyone tell me why this happens and how to remedy it?

Answer 1

One option is to define a new environment (or maybe command) for the questions:

\documentclass{article}

\newcounter{question}
\newenvironment{question}
  {\stepcounter{question}\par\vspace{\topsep}\makebox[2em]{(\roman{question})\hfill}}
  {\par\vspace{\topsep}}

\begin{document}

\begin{question}
question 1
\end{question}
answer 1

\begin{question}
question 2
\end{question}
answer 2

\begin{question}
question 3
\end{question}
answer 3

\end{document}

Another option using a theorem-like structure (a list) though the amsthm package:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsthm}

\newtheoremstyle{question}
  {3pt}{3pt}{\normalfont}
  {}{\bfseries}{}{.5em}
  {#1\makebox[2em]{(#2)\hfill}#3}%

\theoremstyle{question}
\newtheorem{question}{}
\renewcommand\thequestion{\roman{question}}

\begin{document}

\begin{question}
question 1
\end{question}
answer 1

\begin{question}
question 2
\end{question}
answer 2

\begin{question}
question 3
\end{question}
answer 3

\end{document}

Answer 2

I would recommend using the enumitem package, and it's resume* feature which gives you the desired alignment of the question labels:

Notes:

• You could also use \newlist to define your own list style.

Code:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}

\begin{enumerate}[label={(\roman*)},series=Questions]
\item question 1
\end{enumerate}
answer 1

\begin{enumerate}[resume*=Questions]
\item question 2
\end{enumerate}
answer 2

\begin{enumerate}[resume*=Questions]
\item question 3
\end{enumerate}
answer 3
\end{document}

---

If you also want the answers to be aligned on the left to the start of the question you can simply place the answer within the enumerate's \item:

Code:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}

\begin{enumerate}[label={(\roman*)},series=Questions]
\item question 1

answer 1
\end{enumerate}


\begin{enumerate}[resume*=Questions]
\item question 2

answer 2
\end{enumerate}


\begin{enumerate}[resume*=Questions]
\item question 3

answer 3
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}

Answer 3

I suggest the exam document class because allow enumerate questions (in roman also) with the correct indentation of answers (see i-iv in the MWE) or the alignment with the left margin (v-vi in the MWE), but also many other interesting options for questions, as print with/without answers, show/hide points, etc. The package in CTAN have a large but comprehensible manual

\documentclass[answers,12pt,addpoints]{exam}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\definecolor{SolutionColor}{rgb}{0.1,0.3,1}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\renewcommand{\thequestion}{\roman{question}}
\renewcommand\questionlabel{\llap{(\thequestion)}}

\begin{document}

\pointsinrightmargin
\boxedpoints
% \unframedsolutions
\shadedsolutions
\definecolor{SolutionColor}{rgb}{0.9,0.9,1}

\begin{questions}

\question[10] What is the exam class?
\begin{solution}
This is the solution
\end{solution}

\renewcommand{\solutiontitle}{}

\question[5]  Do you know the addpoints option?
\begin{solution}
This is the solution without label
\end{solution}

\renewcommand{\solutiontitle}{\noindent\textbf{Answer: }\par\noindent}


\question[10] Why is there air?
\begin{solution}
This is the solution with another label
\end{solution}

\question[15] How much wood would a woodchuck 
chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
\begin{solution}
This is the solution
\end{solution}


\question[10] Compute $\displaystyle\int_0^1 x^2 \, dx$.

\begin{EnvFullwidth}
\begin{solution}
This is a WIDER solution %dummy solution
\end{solution}
\end{EnvFullwidth}

\bonusquestion[1] On what day of the week did he do it?

\renewcommand{\solutiontitle}{\noindent\textbf{Answer: }\par\noindent}

\begin{EnvFullwidth}
\begin{solution}
\lipsum[2]%dummy text
\end{solution}
\end{EnvFullwidth}

\end{questions}

\begin{center}

This exam has \numquestions\ questions, for a total 
of \numpoints\ points and \numbonuspoints\ bonus points.
\end{center}


\end{document}