Why does setting the margin on a div not affect the position of child content?

Posted by DanM on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by DanM
Published on 2010-03-07T23:48:58Z Indexed on 2010/03/08 6:06 UTC
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I'd like to understand a little more clearly how css margins work with divs and child content.

If I try this...

<div style="clear: both; margin-top: 2em;">
    <input type="submit" value="Save" />
</div>

...the Save button is right up against the User Role (margin fail):


Margin Fail :(


If I change it to this...

<div style="clear: both;">
    <input style="margin-top: 2em;" type="submit" value="Save" />
</div>

...there is a gap between the Save button and the User Role (margin win):


Margin Win :)


Questions:

Can someone explain what I'm observing? Why doesn't putting a margin on the div cause the input to move down? Why must I put the margin on the input itself? There must be some fundamental law of css I am not grasping.

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