PHP use string as operator

You can use eval() as suggested by @konforce, however the safest route would be something like:

$left = (int)$a;
$right = (int)$b;
$result = 0;
switch($char){

  case "*":
    $result = $left * $right;
    break;

 case "+";
   $result = $left + $right;
   break;
// etc

}

The easiest but most dangerous method is to use eval.

$c = eval("return $a $char $b;");

safest method is a switch construct:

function my_operator($a, $b, $char) {
    switch($char) {
        case '=': return $a = $b;
        case '*': return $a * $b;
        case '+': return $a + $b;
        etc...
    }
}