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CSS CSS Basics (2014) Understanding Values and Units Em Units

Kaycee Harris
Kaycee Harris
935 Points
Posted by Kaycee Harris
Kaycee Harris
935 Points

Em, px, and %

When do i use the em unit and how to determine which parent element to divide by. Also when do i use percentages and pixels. Can I avoid using em if i wanted to? What is the difference between em and percentages. This lesson has me a bit confused, i understand the math but I don't understand how em's work

1 Answer

meisloafer
meisloafer
4,769 Points
meisloafer
meisloafer
4,769 Points

MDN:

... em units and percentages do the same thing for font-size.

  • Parent value is the first font-size rule up at DOM tree (in CSS code).
  • If it's not set or set as 100% or 1em, so it's usually 16px.
kevin pineda
kevin pineda
1,262 Points
kevin pineda
kevin pineda
1,262 Points

nice answer, just have to keep it simple with too much explaining we can get confused in what terms are used for...