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Exponent Calculator

Raise any base to any power instantly, with the steps

Privacy: your files never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.

How to use

  1. 1.Type the base into the first field — the number you want to raise to a power (it can be negative or a decimal).
  2. 2.Type the exponent into the second field, or tap x², x³, or √x to set it to 2, 3, or 0.5 automatically.
  3. 3.Read base^exponent instantly below, along with the expansion for small whole-number powers and the reciprocal step for negative exponents.

About Exponent Calculator

An exponent tells you how many times to multiply a base by itself, and this exponent calculator returns base^exponent the moment you stop typing — no button to press, nothing sent to a server. For a small whole-number exponent it also shows the expansion, so 2^5 appears as 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 32, which makes the idea concrete rather than abstract. Use it as a power calculator, a square calculator (exponent 2), a cube calculator (exponent 3), or a square root calculator (exponent 0.5) — the one-tap x², x³ and √x buttons just set the exponent for you.

Exponents follow a few simple rules that this tool applies for you. A positive whole exponent is repeated multiplication: b^n multiplies b by itself n times. An exponent of 1 returns the base unchanged, and any nonzero base to the power 0 equals 1 (for example 10^0 = 1). That last rule is why 0^0 is a special case: multiply-zero-times has no factors, so by the empty-product convention it is defined as 1 here, matching how JavaScript, IEEE 754 floating-point, and most calculators behave — even though pure mathematicians call 0^0 an indeterminate form. You can read the reasoning in the FAQ below.

A negative exponent means a reciprocal: b^(−n) = 1 ÷ b^n. So 2^-2 = 1 ÷ 2² = 1 ÷ 4 = 0.25, and the calculator shows that reciprocal step. Because it is a division, 0 raised to a negative power (like 0^-1) is undefined — it would be 1 ÷ 0 — so the tool flags it instead of printing a broken value.

A fractional exponent is a root: b^(1/2) is the square root, b^(1/3) is the cube root, and b^(m/n) is the n-th root of b^m. Fractional exponents behave cleanly for a base of zero or more. A negative base is different: (−8)^(1/3) equals −2 as a real cube root, but a negative base raised to most fractional exponents (such as (−4)^0.5) has no real value at all — the answer is a complex number. To stay honest and avoid guessing which fraction you meant from a decimal, this calculator computes negative bases only with whole-number exponents (where (−2)^3 = −8 and (−2)^-3 = −0.125 are perfectly real) and clearly explains when a result would be complex.

The tool accepts whole numbers and decimals for both fields, treats 0^positive as 0, and formats extreme results sensibly: very large or very small answers switch to scientific notation, and anything that overflows the range a computer can represent (above roughly 1.8 × 10^308) is caught and labelled too large rather than shown as infinity. Everything runs locally in your browser, so it is fast, private, and works offline.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate an exponent like 2 to the power of 5?
An exponent is repeated multiplication, so 2^5 means 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 32. Enter 2 as the base and 5 as the exponent and this exponent calculator returns 32 instantly, showing the full expansion for small whole-number powers so you can follow the steps.
What is 0 to the power of 0?
This calculator treats 0^0 as 1. Mathematicians call 0^0 an indeterminate form, but in computing it is defined as 1 by the empty-product convention: JavaScript's Math.pow(0, 0) returns 1, the IEEE 754 floating-point 'pow' function returns 1, and most calculators agree. We follow that standard so results match other tools and programming languages.
How do negative exponents work?
A negative exponent is a reciprocal: b^(−n) = 1 ÷ b^n. So 2^-2 = 1 ÷ 2² = 1 ÷ 4 = 0.25 and 10^-3 = 0.001. The one exception is 0 raised to a negative power, which is 1 ÷ 0 — undefined — so the calculator reports an error instead of a number.
Can I raise a negative number to a fractional exponent, like (−8)^(1/3)?
As a real cube root, (−8)^(1/3) equals −2, but a negative base raised to most fractional exponents (for example (−4)^0.5) has no real value — the answer is a complex number. Because a single decimal exponent can't reliably reveal which fraction you mean, this tool computes negative bases only with whole-number exponents, where results like (−2)^3 = −8 are always real, and clearly says when a result would be complex.
How do I find squares, cubes, and square roots with this tool?
Use the exponent as the operation: exponent 2 squares the base (a square calculator), exponent 3 cubes it (a cube calculator), and exponent 0.5 gives the square root (a square root calculator). The one-tap x², x³, and √x buttons set those exponents for you — for example 9^0.5 = 3.

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