math-curiosity.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

cat <<'EOF'
If we divide 1 by 998001 we get the number ".000 001 002 003 ... 997 999 ...".
Look how curious: the 998 simply disappears!
Want proof? Read the code of this script!

Read more: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6954872558508732416/

EOF

printNcharsFromS() {
  while [ $i -lt $MAX ]
  do
    echo -n "${S:$i:$N} "
    i=$(($i+$N))
  done
}

scale=$((3*10*10*10))
bigNumber=$(echo "scale=$scale; 1/998001" | bc | tr -d '\n\\')
i=0 N=4 MAX=4 S=$bigNumber printNcharsFromS
i=4 N=3 MAX=$scale S=$bigNumber printNcharsFromS