Math.pow()
Baseline
Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The Math.pow() static method returns the value of a base raised to a power. That is
Try it
console.log(Math.pow(7, 3));
// Expected output: 343
console.log(Math.pow(4, 0.5));
// Expected output: 2
console.log(Math.pow(7, -2));
// Expected output: 0.02040816326530612
// (1/49)
console.log(Math.pow(-7, 0.5));
// Expected output: NaN
Syntax
Math.pow(base, exponent)
Parameters
Return value
A number representing base taken to the power of exponent. Returns NaN in one of the following cases:
exponentisNaN.baseisNaNandexponentis not0.baseis ±1 andexponentis ±Infinity.base < 0andexponentis 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()
// Basic 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 |
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| ECMAScript® 2027 Language Specification # sec-math.pow |
Browser compatibility
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