What Is REM and EM in CSS
Sophia Edwards
Published Mar 01, 2026
Summary: rem : a CSS unit which is relative to the font size of the html element. em : a CSS unit which is relative to the font size of the parent element.
What is VH and REM in CSS?
REM: Relative to the root element (HTML tag) %: Relative to the parent element. VW: Relative to the viewport’s width. VH: Relative to the viewport’s height.
Which is better rem or em?
ParameteremremRelativityem is relative to the font-size of its direct or nearest parentrem is relative to the HTML (root) font-size
Why should I use REM?
As a reflex answer, I would recommend using rem, because it allows you to change the “zoom level” of the whole document at once, if necessary. In some cases, when you want the size to be relative to the parent element, then use em.What are VW units CSS?
Viewport Width (vw). This unit is based on the width of the viewport. A value of 1vw is equal to 1% of the viewport width. Viewport Minimum (vmin). This unit is based on the smaller dimension of the viewport.
How many CSS units are there?
There are two general kinds of units used for length and size in CSS: relative and absolute.
What Is REM and PX?
What is Rem? It stands for “Root em”. It is a relative unit of CSS and translated by the browser to pixels (px). When rem is used on the font-size in the root element, it represents its initial value. If we set the font-size:16px of the root <html> element, then font-size of paragraph will be 1rem.
What is difference between PX and REM in CSS?
The Difference. Pixel ( px ) is a commonly used CSS unit on websites. px is not scalable, it is an absolute unit. … Element ( em ) and Root element ( rem ) are responsive units interpreted into equivalent px unit by the browser.Is REM responsive CSS?
By using rem CSS units, components will change size when the root font size changes, giving developers another method of responsive design. The CSS unit “rem” stands for “root em.” The scale of a rem is dependent on the root html font size.
Is using REM better than PX?The answer used to be absolutely yes because, if you used px units, you prevented the text from being resized by the user at all. setting type in relative units maintains greater design fidelity as users use browser zoom (which a lot of people definitely use). …
Article first time published onHow do I use REM in CSS?
- 10px = 0.625rem.
- 12px = 0.75rem.
- 14px = 0.875rem.
- 16px = 1rem (base)
- 18px = 1.125rem.
- 20px = 1.25rem.
- 24px = 1.5rem.
- 30px = 1.875rem.
Is REM relative?
rem Unit. The rem unit, short for root em is a relative unit that’ll always be based upon the font-size value of the root element, which is the <html> element.
Should I use REM for margin and padding?
Don’t use rem/em for paddings, margins and more.
Which unit is best for CSS?
Rem, Em, Percentage (%), View-width (vw) and View-height are most commonly used. Rem is an absolute unit relative to the root element of the HTML document and is commonly used for font sizes. The Rem unit is a scalable unit in which the browser renders into pixel values. I recommend it for responsiveness.
What is Vmin and Vmax?
vmin is the minimum between the viewport’s height or width in percentage depending on which is smaller. vmax is the maximum between the viewport’s height or width in percentage depending on which is bigger.
What does REM stand for?
Not getting enough sleep can lead to many health concerns, affecting how you think and feel. During the night, you cycle through two types of sleep: non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Your brain and body act differently during these different phases.
How many pixels are in a REM?
In most modern browsers, 1 rem is equal to 16 pixels. So with a base size of 1rem (a.k.a. 16px ) set, we can now use simple division to figure out proper sizing of elements.
How do you use units in CSS?
CSS has several different units for expressing a length. Many CSS properties take “length” values, such as width , margin , padding , font-size , etc. Length is a number followed by a length unit, such as 10px , 2em , etc.
Why is em better than PX?
pxempercent25px1.5625em156.25%
Where Is REM set?
Since rem uses root element’s font-size instead of its parent’s font-size. Let’s assume, font-size: 10px is set for the root element which makes 1rem = 10px everywhere in our webpage. Since 1px = 0.1rem, calculations are easy. But setting root font-size in pixels will have same problem as I mentioned in the px section.
Is REM and EM same?
Both rem and em are scalable units of size, but with em , the unit is relative to the font size of its parent element, while rem unit is only relative to root font size of the HTML document.
Is REM only for font-size?
While em is relative to the font-size of its direct or nearest parent, rem is only relative to the html (root) font-size. Jeremy tends to favor em , because of the ability to control an area of a design.
Should I use REM for borders?
1 Answer. There is no technical reason not to use the rem unit for border-radius . Neither is never any compelling reason to use the rem unit, for it or otherwise.
Can you use REM for height?
This unit is useful for avoiding compounding in width calculations, just as rem avoids font-size multiplier compounding. It can also be used for non-width properties, such as font-size (fitting a fixed fragment of text into a percentage-sized box) or height (preserving element aspect ratio).