This exponent calculator raises a base to any power, including negative and fractional exponents, and shows very large or very small results in scientific notation.
Exponent rules
- bⁿ means multiplying b by itself n times: 2⁴ = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16
- b⁰ = 1 for any non-zero b
- b⁻ⁿ = 1 ÷ bⁿ, so 2⁻³ = 1/8 = 0.125
- b^(1/n) is the nth root, so 27^(1/3) = 3
Worked example
2 to the power of 10 is 1,024. That is why a kilobyte is sometimes counted as 1,024 bytes.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a negative base with a fraction give an error?
Expressions like (−8)^0.5 have no real-number answer, because no real number squared gives a negative result. They exist only as complex numbers.
What is 0 to the power of 0?
Most calculators and textbooks treat 0⁰ as 1, which is what this calculator returns.