How can I split an HTML element?

Is HTML element padding only relevant when there is a border around the element to which the padding is?

• applied? In other words, is there any difference in the resulting display of the example text between "padding" and "margin" in the following example, which has no border around its "div" element? Isn't the example text simply indented by 0.5 in from the left margin in both cases? <div style="padding-left: 0.5in"> example text 1 </div> <div style="margin-left: 0.5in"> example text 2 </div> But is there a difference in the resulting display of the example text between "padding" and "margin" in the following example, which has a border around its "div" element? In the first example is the space between the border and the text simply set to 0.5 in and the border left in place at the margin? But in the second example aren't the border and the example text both indented by 0.5 in from the margin? <div style="border-left: green 0.1in solid; padding-left: 0.5in"> example text 1 </div> <div style="border-left: green 0.1in solid; margin-left: 0.5in"> example text 2 </div>

• Answer:

  Padding relates to inside the element where it is used. Margin relates to outside the element. Your examples are not the same. If they were, there wouldn't be any need but for one of them. Ron