Why can't floated elements set their left and right margins

Question

In a wrapper div, the floated elements don\'t seem to respond to left and right margin settings. Example:

html:

    <         


        
      

Answer 1

Margins do not move floated elements, they "push content away".

If you want to move the floated element, you could give it the following CSS rules:

#content {
    position: relative;
    left: 30px;
}

An alternative is giving the element a transparent border:

#content {
    border-left: 30px transparent;
}

If you are just looking to position a div inside of another div, then use absolute positioning:

#wrapper {
    position: relative; /* required for absolute positioning of children */
}

#content {
    position: absolute;
    left: 0;
}