How come the margin-bottom is displaying as the margin-top?

Question

How come the margin-bottom is displaying as the margin-top?

When I attempt to add margin-bottom on a div inside its parent, it seems to display as the parent's margin-top. Why is that?

HTML:

<div id="wrapper">
    <div id="content">
        <div id="box"></div>
    </div>
</div>

CSS:

#wrapper{
  border: 1px solid #F68004;
}

#content{
  background-color: #0075CF;
  height: 100px;
}

#box{
  margin-bottom: 50px;
}

Expected Outcome:

Actual Result:

Update:

I've managed to fix this issue, but I am still unsure why the initial code didn't work. Can someone provide an explanation?

Update 2:

It appears that most responses suggest that this issue is due to margin collapse and may be similar to this situation. However, please note that I specifically set margin-bottom and not margin-top. I have researched collapsing margins but have not found any indication that margin-bottom can be interpreted as margin-top. Can anyone clarify this for me?

html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Change the margin-bottom: 50px; to apply to #content rather than #box. This is because the #content div has a set height and margin collapse may occur.

You can find more information about this issue here

View the updated Fiddle for reference

Answer 2

Change the margin-bottom: 50px; to apply to #content rather than #box. This is because the #content div has a set height and margin collapse may occur.

You can find more information about this issue here

View the updated Fiddle for reference

Answer 3

Answer №2

The margin appears to be on top due to a concept known as margin collapsing:

Parent and first/last child rule
When there are no elements such as border, padding, inline content, or clearance to separate the margins of a parent block with its first child block's margin-top, or the bottom margins of a block with its last child's margin-bottom, these margins collapse. The collapsed margin will then extend outside the parent element.

To address this issue, you can add a transparent border to your parent div (#content):

#wrapper{
  border: 1px solid #F68004;
}

#content{
  border:1px solid transparent;
  background-color: #0075CF;
  height: 100px;
}

#box{
  margin-bottom: 50px;
  height:10px; background-color:red;
}

<div id="wrapper">
    <div id="content">
        <div id="box"></div>
    </div>
</div>

If you want to create white space at the bottom like in your expected image, simply add padding-bottom: 50px to #wrapper.

Update

Explanation for why margin-bottom is affecting margin-top: As the collapsing margin extends beyond the parent div, it becomes the margin bottom of the element outside the parent (in this case, the top border of #wrapper), which pushes the #content div downward and gives the appearance of margin-top.

Answer 4

The margin appears to be on top due to a concept known as margin collapsing:

Parent and first/last child rule
When there are no elements such as border, padding, inline content, or clearance to separate the margins of a parent block with its first child block's margin-top, or the bottom margins of a block with its last child's margin-bottom, these margins collapse. The collapsed margin will then extend outside the parent element.

To address this issue, you can add a transparent border to your parent div (#content):

#wrapper{
  border: 1px solid #F68004;
}

#content{
  border:1px solid transparent;
  background-color: #0075CF;
  height: 100px;
}

#box{
  margin-bottom: 50px;
  height:10px; background-color:red;
}

<div id="wrapper">
    <div id="content">
        <div id="box"></div>
    </div>
</div>

If you want to create white space at the bottom like in your expected image, simply add padding-bottom: 50px to #wrapper.

Update

Explanation for why margin-bottom is affecting margin-top: As the collapsing margin extends beyond the parent div, it becomes the margin bottom of the element outside the parent (in this case, the top border of #wrapper), which pushes the #content div downward and gives the appearance of margin-top.

Answer 5

Answer №3

If you want to experiment with a different approach, consider trying this method: Live Example

Rather than specifying the height for #content, give it to the element #box instead.

#content {
  background-color: #0075CF;        
}

#box {margin-bottom: 50px; height: 100px;}

Answer 6

If you want to experiment with a different approach, consider trying this method: Live Example

Rather than specifying the height for #content, give it to the element #box instead.

#content {
  background-color: #0075CF;        
}

#box {margin-bottom: 50px; height: 100px;}

Answer 7

Answer №4

Here is the link to the jsFiddle that meets your requirements:

jsFiddle

To achieve the desired effect of a yellow border around the entire content, it was necessary to increase the height of your wrapper element.

#wrapper{
  border: 1px solid #F68004;
  height: 150px;
}

#content{
  background-color: #0075CF;
  height: 100px;
}

<div id="wrapper">
    <div id="content">
        <div id="box"></div>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 8

Here is the link to the jsFiddle that meets your requirements:

jsFiddle

To achieve the desired effect of a yellow border around the entire content, it was necessary to increase the height of your wrapper element.

#wrapper{
  border: 1px solid #F68004;
  height: 150px;
}

#content{
  background-color: #0075CF;
  height: 100px;
}

<div id="wrapper">
    <div id="content">
        <div id="box"></div>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 9

Answer №5

Take a look at the code snippet below

#wrapper {
  background-color: #ff9933;
  height: 200px;
  margin-bottom: 75px;
}

#container {
  /* margin-top: 25px; */
}

Answer 10

Take a look at the code snippet below

#wrapper {
  background-color: #ff9933;
  height: 200px;
  margin-bottom: 75px;
}

#container {
  /* margin-top: 25px; */
}

Answer 11

Answer №6

Consider adjusting the margin for #content rather than #box. Alternatively, if you specifically need to adjust the margin for #box only, try using a negative value such as -(50+div height). For example, if the div #box height is 150px, you could use-

#box {
      margin-bottom: -200px;
    }

Answer 12

Consider adjusting the margin for #content rather than #box. Alternatively, if you specifically need to adjust the margin for #box only, try using a negative value such as -(50+div height). For example, if the div #box height is 150px, you could use-

#box {
      margin-bottom: -200px;
    }

Answer 13

Answer №7

Solution 1:

<div id="container">
    <div id="content">       
    </div>
    <div id="box"></div>
</div>

Solution 2:

 <div id="container">
   <div id="content">
      <div id="box"></div>
   </div>
</div>


  <style>
    #container{
    border: 1px solid #F68004;
    height: 150px;
   }

#content{
   background-color: #0075CF;
   height: 100px;
 }

#box{
    /*margin-bottom: 50px;*/
  }
 </style>

Answer 14

Solution 1:

<div id="container">
    <div id="content">       
    </div>
    <div id="box"></div>
</div>

Solution 2:

 <div id="container">
   <div id="content">
      <div id="box"></div>
   </div>
</div>


  <style>
    #container{
    border: 1px solid #F68004;
    height: 150px;
   }

#content{
   background-color: #0075CF;
   height: 100px;
 }

#box{
    /*margin-bottom: 50px;*/
  }
 </style>

Answer 15

Answer №8

Give this a shot!

Styling with CSS

#container{
  border: 2px solid #F64784;
}

#main-content{
  background-color: #25B3A6;
  height: 150px;
  margin-bottom: 75px;
}

Answer 16

Give this a shot!

Styling with CSS

#container{
  border: 2px solid #F64784;
}

#main-content{
  background-color: #25B3A6;
  height: 150px;
  margin-bottom: 75px;
}

How come the margin-bottom is displaying as the margin-top?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

Answer №7

Answer №8

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