Raise a base to a power, including negative and fractional exponents. Enter the base and exponent.
Usage Tip
Powers of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16, 32) show up everywhere in computing; powers of 10 just shift the decimal point.
A negative exponent gives the reciprocal; exponent 0 gives 1
Negative exponents invert (2 to the -3 is 1 divided by 8); fractional exponents are roots.
Very large or very small results are shown in scientific notation.
Fractional exponents such as 0.5 give roots: base to the 0.5 is the square root.
An exponent says how many times to multiply a base by itself, so 2 to the fifth power is 2 times 2 times 2 times 2 times 2, or 32. A negative exponent means the reciprocal, so 2 to the minus 3 is one over 2 cubed, or 0.125. A fractional exponent is a root, so 9 to the one half power is the square root of 9, which is 3.
Any non-zero number raised to the power of zero equals 1. Results can become very large or very small quickly, which is why exponential growth surprises people. Be careful with negative bases and fractional exponents, since many of those combinations have no real result. Powers are used in compound interest, area and volume formulas, and scientific notation.