PHP pow() Function

The PHP pow() function returns the base raise to the power of exponent. If both arguments of the function are non-negative integers the return type will be integer, else the return type will be float. In special cases it returns the following:

• If the exponent is zero, then the result is 1.0.
• If the exponent is NAN, then the result is NAN.
• If the first argument is NAN and the second argument is nonzero, then the result is NAN.

Syntax

pow(base, exponent)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns the base raise to the power of exponent.

Example:

In the example below, pow() function is used to calculate the base raised to the power of exponent.

<?php
echo "pow(10, 2) = ".pow(10, 2)."\n";
echo "pow(5.2, 3) = ".pow(5.2, 3)."\n";
echo "pow(5.2, -3) = ".pow(5.2, -3)."\n";
echo "pow(5, NAN) = ".pow(5, NAN)."\n";
echo "pow(NAN, 2) = ".pow(NAN, 2)."\n";
echo "pow(2, INF) = ".pow(2, INF)."\n";
echo "pow(2, -INF) = ".pow(2, -INF)."\n"; 
?>

The output of the above code will be:

ow(10, 2) = 100
pow(5.2, 3) = 140.608
pow(5.2, -3) = 0.0071119708693673
pow(5, NAN) = NAN
pow(NAN, 2) = NAN
pow(2, INF) = INF
pow(2, -INF) = 0