How to install Mathematica on Raspberry Pi

Mathematica software is made available for free to any Raspberry Pi running Raspbian. So if you are solving math problems, you should try this software.

Before continuing with this guide, make sure you have at least 1GB of free space on your SD card.

Install Mathematica onto Raspberry Pi

Step 1. Before you can install Mathematica onto your Raspberry Pi, you must update the package list. To update the package list, all you need to do is run the following command

sudo apt update

Updating the package list will let you install Mathematica without any problems.

Step 2. Now, to install Mathematica, you need to run the command below.

sudo apt install wolfram-engine

This installation will take some time as the Pi needs to download and install packages over 500mb.

Load Mathematica on Raspberry Pi

Step 1. With Mathematica installed on the Pi, you can now launch it.

To open Mathematica, click the icon in the top left corner of the screen.

Step 2. In this menu, hover over 'Programming'. In the pop-up menu, click 'Mathematica'.

Step 3. Mathematica will now launch on the Pi. You will be able to start using it right away to perform mathematical calculations.

Testing Mathematica on Pi

Step 1. To check if the software is working as expected, you can try entering a simple math problem as follows.

2 + 2

Step 2. With the math entered, you can press SHIFT + ENTER to produce the result.

Alternatively, you can click 'Evaluation' in the menu bar, then 'Evaluate Cells'.

Step 3. If everything is working, the output in Mathematica notebook should look like what is below.

In [1]: = 2 + 2 Out [1]: = 4

At this point, you have finished setting up Mathematica on your Raspberry Pi and do an initial test to see if it works.

Hope you are succesful.

David Pac

Update 14 October 2020