JavaScript Math pow()

// computes 52
let power = Math.pow(5, 2);
console.log(power); 

// Output:  25

pow() Syntax

The syntax of the Math.pow() method is:

Math.pow(number, power)

Here, pow() is a static method. Hence, we are accessing the method using the class name, Math.

pow() Parameters

The pow() method takes two parameters:

• number - the base value that is raised to a certain power
• power - the exponent value that raises number

pow() Return Value

The pow() method returns:

• number^power, number raised to a certain power
• 1 if value of power is 0
• 0 if value of number is 0

Note: If the argument is a non-numeric string, the result will be NaN (Not a Number).

Example 1: JavaScript Math.pow() with Integer Parameters

// pow() with positive arguments
let power1 = Math.pow(5, 3);
console.log(power1); 

// pow() with negative arguments
let power2 = Math.pow(-4, -2);
console.log(power2);

// Output:
// 125
// 80.44885596939699

Here,

• Math.pow(5, 3) - computes 5³
• Math.pow(-4, -2) - computes -4^-2

Example 2: Math.pow() with Zero Arguments

// number with zero power
let power1 = Math.pow(4, 0);
console.log(power2);

// zero raised to a positive power
let power2 = Math.pow(0, 5);
console.log(power2);

// zero raised to negative power
let power3 = Math.pow(0, -3);
console.log(power3);

// Output:
// 1
// 0
// Infinity

Here,

• Math.pow(4, 0) - computes 4⁰ (equals to 1)
• Math.pow(0, 5) - computes 0⁵ (equals to 0)
• Math.pow(0, -3) - computes 0^-3 (equals Infinity)

Example 3: Math.pow() with Floating Point Parameters

// power of floating point numbers
let power1 = Math.pow(4.5, 2.3);
console.log(power1);

// power of negative number with floating point
let power2 = Math.pow(-8, 4.3);
console.log(power2);

// Output:
// 31.7971929089206
// NaN

The pow() method can calculate the power value when both arguments are positive floating point numbers as shown in the example above.

But if we use a floating point power argument with any type of negative number, the pow() method returns NaN as the output.

Example 4: Math.pow() with String Arguments

// pow() numeric string
let power1 = Math.pow("6", "2");
console.log(power1);
// Output: 36

// pow() with non-numeric string
let power2 = Math.pow("Harry", "Potter");
console.log(power2);
// Output: NaN 

In the above example, we have used the pow() method with string arguments. Here,

• Math.pow("6", "2") - converts the numeric string to numbers and computes the power
• Math.pow("Harry", "Potter") - cannot compute the power of a non-numeric string and returns NaN

Recommended readings:

• JavaScript Math sqrt()
• JavaScript Math cbrt()