Exponent Calculator
Compute base raised to an exponent, including negative powers and fractional exponents for roots.
Example
Base 2 raised to exponent 10:
2^10 = 1024
Fractional (root): 9^0.5 = 3 (square root of 9)
Negative exponent: 2^-2 = 0.25 (1 / 2^2)
Cube root of -8: (-8)^(1/3) = -2
Zero power: 7^0 = 1
How it works
Enter a base and an exponent; the result is base^exponent. Fractional exponents give roots (e.g. 0.5 is a square root) and negative exponents give reciprocals.
Good to know
This Exponent Calculator raises any base to any power, so you can evaluate expressions like 2^10, 5^-3, or 9^0.5 without reaching for a scientific calculator. You type a base and an exponent, and it instantly returns the result along with the written-out expression and the reciprocal value (base raised to the negative of your exponent). It is handy for students checking homework, programmers reasoning about powers of two, and anyone who needs a quick power or root.
Reach for it whenever an exponent is not a tidy whole number. Because a fractional exponent is the same operation as a root, you can use it to take square roots (exponent 0.5), cube roots (exponent 1/3 ≈ 0.3333), or any nth root (exponent 1/n) without a separate root tool. Negative exponents flip the base into a fraction, which is useful for unit conversions, scientific notation, and decay-style math.
Read the big number as your answer and use the supporting fields to sanity-check it. The Expression line restates exactly what was computed so you can confirm the inputs were read correctly, and the Reciprocal field shows the inverse power, which is convenient when you want both x^n and x^-n at once. Very large or very small results switch to scientific notation (for example, 1.234560e+18), and results are rounded to about ten decimal places, so a value shown as a clean integer may carry tiny rounding under the hood.
One caveat to keep in mind: this is a real-number calculator. A negative base only returns a real value when a fractional exponent reduces to an odd denominator, such as (-8)^(1/3) = -2; even roots of negatives like (-4)^0.5 are complex numbers and are reported as "undefined" rather than an imaginary result. If you need decimals to behave like fractions, enter the fraction's decimal carefully, since something like 0.3333 is only an approximation of 1/3.
Frequently asked questions
How do I take a root with this calculator?
Use a fractional exponent. A square root is base^0.5, a cube root is base^(1/3) ≈ 0.3333, and an nth root is base^(1/n).
Why does a negative base with a fractional exponent show "undefined"?
Roots of negative numbers are real only when the root index (denominator) is odd, like (-8)^(1/3) = -2. Even roots such as (-4)^0.5 are complex numbers, which this real-valued calculator reports as undefined.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No — this calculator runs entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Is it free?
Yes, completely free with no sign-up and no limits.
People also ask
What is an exponent in math?
An exponent tells you how many times to multiply a base by itself. In 2^3, the base is 2 and the exponent is 3, so the value is 2 × 2 × 2 = 8.
How do you calculate a number to a fractional power?
A fractional exponent combines a power and a root: base^(a/b) equals the b-th root of base raised to the a power. For example, 27^(2/3) is the cube root of 27 squared, which equals 9.
Why is any number to the power of zero equal to one?
By the rules of exponents, x^0 equals x^(n-n), which is x^n divided by x^n, and any nonzero number divided by itself is 1. This is why 7^0 = 1 for every nonzero base.
What does a negative exponent mean?
A negative exponent means take the reciprocal of the positive power. For instance, 2^-3 equals 1 divided by 2^3, which is 1/8 or 0.125.
Is a square root the same as an exponent of one half?
Yes. Raising a number to the power of 0.5 is identical to taking its square root, so 16^0.5 and the square root of 16 both equal 4.
Can you raise zero to a negative power?
No. Zero to a negative power requires dividing by zero, which is undefined, so the result is treated as infinity rather than a finite number.
What is 2 raised to the 10th power?
2^10 equals 1024. This value comes up often in computing because it is the number of distinct values that 10 binary digits can represent.
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