It appears that what you really require is some margin:
If not, how can this issue be resolved? I am currently dealing with float elements in multiple columns, each column having a width of 10px in between. Thus, I need a dynamic calculation for widths to adapt to varying screen sizes.
.colItem { float: left; margin-right: 10px; }
In this scenario, your width should not actually be 50%, as two adjacent columns will exceed total space (50% + 50% + 20px margin > 100%). You may consider using a different value like 1% instead of 10px.
A more effective solution would likely involve using padding in combination with the box-sizing property:
.colItem
{
float: left;
width: 50%;
box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing:border-box;
padding-right: 10px;
}
.colItem.last
{
padding-right: 0px;
}