Question

I found such a situation in my code and can’t find an explanation for it. Why does Chrome (and other browsers as well) set width to auto, ignoring my width: 15px?

Here’s a screenshot:

Answer 1

spans are inline elements. You can’t set the width of an inline element.

In order to set the width you’ve to change the display property of the element.

.elem {
    display: inline-block;
}

I suggest these reading to learn more about CSS box model:

• The CSS box model
• Understanding inline box model/