Math & Stats

Exponent Calculator

Raise any base to any power with this free Exponent Calculator. Supports negative, decimal, and fractional exponents with instant, accurate results.

Exponent Calculator

Base

Exponent (Power)

Method

How this calculator works

result = base^exponent = Math.pow(base, exponent). An exponent is repeated multiplication: bⁿ means b multiplied by itself n times. Negative exponents give reciprocals (b⁻ⁿ = 1/bⁿ) and fractional exponents give roots (b^(1/n) = ⁿ√b).

Enter the base — the number being multiplied — in the first field.
Enter the exponent (power) in the second field; negatives and decimals are allowed.
Click Calculate or edit any field to recompute automatically.
Read the primary result and the full expression such as 2^10 = 1024.
Special forms like 0^0 or a negative base with a fractional power are labeled undefined.

Examples

Worked examples

Real numbers, end-to-end results.

2^10

2^10 = 1024

The base 2 multiplied by itself ten times.

5^-2

5^-2 = 0.04

A negative exponent gives the reciprocal: 1 / 5² = 1/25.

27^(1/3)

27^0.3333… = 3

A fractional exponent of 1/3 returns the cube root of 27.

Use cases

When to use it

Computing compound growth and repeated-multiplication problems.
Evaluating scientific notation and powers of ten in physics.
Checking algebra homework involving exponents and roots.
Exploring exponential decay with negative and fractional powers.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does an exponent mean?

An exponent tells you how many times to multiply the base by itself. In 2⁴, the base 2 is multiplied four times: 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16.

What is a negative exponent?

A negative exponent means the reciprocal of the positive power. For example, 2⁻³ equals 1 divided by 2³, which is 1/8 or 0.125.

What does a fractional exponent do?

A fractional exponent represents a root. For example, 9^(1/2) is the square root of 9, and 8^(1/3) is the cube root of 8.

Why is 0⁰ undefined here?

The expression 0 raised to the power 0 has no single agreed value across all of mathematics, so this calculator flags it as an indeterminate form rather than returning a number.

Why can a negative base with a fractional exponent be undefined?

Raising a negative number to a fractional power like (-8)^(1/2) produces a complex (non-real) result, which this real-number calculator reports as undefined.