Math.pow()

The Math.pow() method returns the value of a base raised to a power. That is

𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚑.𝚙𝚘𝚠 ( 𝚡 , 𝚢 ) = x y \mathtt{\operatorname{Math.pow}(x, y)} = x^y

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Syntax

Math.pow(base, exponent)

Parameters

base

The base number.

exponent

The exponent number.

Return value

A number representing base taken to the power of exponent. Returns NaN in one of the following cases:

  • exponent is NaN.
  • base is NaN and exponent is not 0.
  • base is ±1 and exponent is ±Infinity.
  • base < 0 and exponent is not an integer.

Description

Math.pow() is equivalent to the ** operator, except Math.pow() only accepts numbers.

Math.pow(NaN, 0) (and the equivalent NaN ** 0) is the only case where NaN doesn't propagate through mathematical operations — it returns 1 despite the operand being NaN. In addition, the behavior where base is 1 and exponent is non-finite (±Infinity or NaN) is different from IEEE 754, which specifies that the result should be 1, whereas JavaScript returns NaN to preserve backward compatibility with its original behavior.

Because pow() is a static method of Math, use it as Math.pow(), rather than as a method of a Math object you created (Math is not a constructor).

Examples

Using Math.pow()

// Simple cases
Math.pow(7, 2); // 49
Math.pow(7, 3); // 343
Math.pow(2, 10); // 1024

// Fractional exponents
Math.pow(4, 0.5); // 2 (square root of 4)
Math.pow(8, 1 / 3); // 2 (cube root of 8)
Math.pow(2, 0.5); // 1.4142135623730951 (square root of 2)
Math.pow(2, 1 / 3); // 1.2599210498948732 (cube root of 2)

// Signed exponents
Math.pow(7, -2); // 0.02040816326530612 (1/49)
Math.pow(8, -1 / 3); // 0.5

// Signed bases
Math.pow(-7, 2); // 49 (squares are positive)
Math.pow(-7, 3); // -343 (cubes can be negative)
Math.pow(-7, 0.5); // NaN (negative numbers don't have a real square root)
// Due to "even" and "odd" roots laying close to each other,
// and limits in the floating number precision,
// negative bases with fractional exponents always return NaN,
// even when the mathematical result is real
Math.pow(-7, 1 / 3); // NaN

// Zero and infinity
Math.pow(0, 0); // 1 (anything ** ±0 is 1)
Math.pow(Infinity, 0.1); // Infinity (positive exponent)
Math.pow(Infinity, -1); // 0 (negative exponent)
Math.pow(-Infinity, 1); // -Infinity (positive odd integer exponent)
Math.pow(-Infinity, 1.5); // Infinity (positive exponent)
Math.pow(-Infinity, -1); // -0 (negative odd integer exponent)
Math.pow(-Infinity, -1.5); // 0 (negative exponent)
Math.pow(0, 1); // 0 (positive exponent)
Math.pow(0, -1); // Infinity (negative exponent)
Math.pow(-0, 1); // -0 (positive odd integer exponent)
Math.pow(-0, 1.5); // 0 (positive exponent)
Math.pow(-0, -1); // -Infinity (negative odd integer exponent)
Math.pow(-0, -1.5); // Infinity (negative exponent)
Math.pow(0.9, Infinity); // 0
Math.pow(1, Infinity); // NaN
Math.pow(1.1, Infinity); // Infinity
Math.pow(0.9, -Infinity); // Infinity
Math.pow(1, -Infinity); // NaN
Math.pow(1.1, -Infinity); // 0

// NaN: only Math.pow(NaN, 0) does not result in NaN
Math.pow(NaN, 0); // 1
Math.pow(NaN, 1); // NaN
Math.pow(1, NaN); // NaN

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification
# sec-math.pow

Browser compatibility

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See also