Using Exponents in Formulas

Problem

You need to write a formula that raises some number to some power but you don't know the syntax for exponentiation in Excel.

Solution

Use the caret (^) operator.

Discussion

Raising a number to some power is a common calculation task. In Excel, the caret operator (^) is used for exponentiation. For example, to raise the number contained in cell A1 to the third power, you could enter the formula =A1^3. You can use whole number exponents as well as decimal numbers or even other operations. For example, the formulas =A1^0.25 and =A1^(1/4) both raise the value in cell A1 to the one-fourth power.

You need not hardcode exponents. You could use a number contained in another cell as an exponent; e.g., =A1^C5, or =A1^(C5+D10), or =(A1+A2)^(C5/E8), and so on.

See Also

See Recipe 1.10 for other common mathematical functions .