How do I divide in the Linux console?

Question

I have to variables and I want to find the value of one divided by the other. What commands should I use to do this?

Answer 1

Better way is to use "bc", an arbitrary precision calculator.

variable=$(echo "OPTIONS; OPERATIONS" | bc)

ex:

my_var=$(echo "scale=5; $temp_var/100 + $temp_var2" | bc)

where "scale=5" is accuracy.

man bc 

comes with several usage examples.

Answer 2

In bash, if you don't need decimals in your division, you can do:

>echo $((5+6))
11
>echo $((10/2))
5
>echo $((10/3))
3

Answer 3

You can use awk which is a utility/language designed for data extraction

e.g. for 1.2/3.4

>echo 1.2 3.4 | awk '{ print $2/$1 }'
0.352941

Answer 4

I also had the same problem. It's easy to divide integer numbers but decimal numbers are not that easy. if you have 2 numbers like 3.14 and 2.35 and divide the numbers then, the code will be Division=echo 3.14 / 2.35 | bc echo "$Division" the quotes are different. Don't be confused, it's situated just under the esc button on your keyboard. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE | bc and also here echo works as an operator for the arithmetic calculations in stead of printing. So, I had added echo "$Division" for printing the value. Let me know if it works for you. Thank you.

Answer 5

In the bash shell, surround arithmetic expressions with $(( ... ))

$ echo $(( 7 / 3 ))
2

Although I think you are limited to integers.

Answer 6

I still prefer using dc, which is an RPN calculator, so quick session to divide 67 by 18 with 4 digits precision would look like

>dc
4k
67
18/p
3.7222
q
>

Obviously, much more available: man dc