\vspace (LaTeX2e unofficial reference manual (November 2018))

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### 19.14 `\vspace`

Synopsis, one of:

    \vspace{length}
    \vspace*{length}

Add the vertical space length. The length can be positive, negative, or zero. It is a rubber length—it may contain a `plus` or `minus` component (see Lengths).

This puts space between the two paragraphs.

    And I slept.

    \vspace{1ex plus 0.5ex}
    The new day dawned cold.

(See \bigskip & \medskip & \smallskip for common inter-paragraph spaces.)

The `*`-version inserts vertical space that non-discardable. More precisely, LaTeX discards vertical space at a page break and the `*`-version causes the space to stay. This example leaves space between the two questions.

    Question: Find the integral of \( 5x^4+5 \).

    \vspace*{2cm plus 0.5cm}
    Question: Find the derivative of \( x^5+5x+9 \).

That space will be present even if the page break happens to fall between the questions.

If you use `\vspace` in the middle of a paragraph (i.e., in horizontal mode) then the space is inserted after the line containing the `\vspace` command; it does not start a new paragraph at the `\vspace` command.

In this example the two questions will be evenly spaced vertically on the page, with at least one inch of space below each.

    \begin{document}
    1) Who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?
    \vspace{1in plus 1fill}

    2) Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong?
    \vspace{1in plus 1fill}
    \end{document}

Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual