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11.5.2 Mathematical Functions »
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11.5.1. Arithmetic Operators

Table 11.10. Arithmetic Functions

Name Description
DIV(v4.1.0) Integer division
/ Division operator
- Minus operator
% Modulo operator
+ Addition operator
* Times operator
- Change the sign of the argument

The usual arithmetic operators are available. The precision of the result is determined according to the following rules:

  • In the case of -, +, and *, the result is calculated with BIGINT (64-bit) precision if both arguments are integers.

  • If one of the arguments is an unsigned integer, and the other argument is also an integer, the result is an unsigned integer.

  • If any of the operands of a +, -, /, *, % is a real or string value, then the precision of the result is the precision of the argument with the maximum precision.

These rules are applied for each operation, such that nested calculations imply the precision of each component. Hence, (14620 / 9432456) / (24250 / 9432456), would resolve first to (0.0014) / (0.0026), with the final result having 8 decimal places (0.57692308).

Because of these rules and the way they are applied, care should be taken to ensure that components and subcomponents of a calculation use the appropriate level of precision. See Section 11.9, “Cast Functions and Operators”.

Arithmetic operators apply to numbers. For other types of values, alternative operations may be available. For example, to add date values, use DATE_ADD(); see Section 11.6, “Date and Time Functions”.

  • +

    Addition: 

    mysql> SELECT 3+5;
        -> 8

  • -

    Subtraction: 

    mysql> SELECT 3-5;
        -> -2

  • -

    Unary minus. This operator changes the sign of the argument. 

    mysql> SELECT - 2;
        -> -2

    Note

    If this operator is used with a BIGINT, the return value is also a BIGINT. This means that you should avoid using – on integers that may have the value of –263.

  • *

    Multiplication: 

    mysql> SELECT 3*5;
        -> 15
mysql> SELECT 18014398509481984*18014398509481984.0;
        -> 324518553658426726783156020576256.0
mysql> SELECT 18014398509481984*18014398509481984;
        -> 0

    The result of the last expression is incorrect because the result of the integer multiplication exceeds the 64-bit range of BIGINT calculations. (See Section 10.2, “Numeric Types”.)

  • /

    Division: 

    mysql> SELECT 3/5;
        -> 0.60

    Division by zero produces a NULL result: 

    mysql> SELECT 102/(1-1);
        -> NULL

    A division is calculated with BIGINT arithmetic only if performed in a context where its result is converted to an integer.

  • DIV

    Integer division. Similar to FLOOR(), but is safe with BIGINT values. Incorrect results may occur for noninteger operands that exceed BIGINT range. 

    mysql> SELECT 5 DIV 2;
        -> 2

    DIV was implemented in MySQL 4.1.0.

  • N % M

    Modulo operation. Returns the remainder of N divided by M. For more information, see the description for the MOD() function in Section 11.5.2, “Mathematical Functions”.