POWER Function in Excel: Raise to a Power (and Growth Rates)

📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓

MathLevel: IntermediateAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article

1. Syntax
2. Examples
3. Example 1
4. Example 2
5. POWER in practice
6. Where you will use it
7. Worked example
8. Mistakes people make
9. Related functions
10. Continue learning

POWER raises a number to a power; the ^ operator does the same. Its most useful business job is CAGR.

Syntax

=POWER(number, power)

Argument	What it means
power	Exponent; 0.5 is a square root.

Examples

Example 1

=POWER(C2/B2, 1/5)-1

CAGR: growth from B2 to C2 over 5 years.

Example 2

=A2*(1+8%)^10

Value of A2 after 10 years at 8%.

POWER in practice

Where you will use it

• Compound growth: (1+r)^n
• Square and cube sizes
• Reverse growth to find CAGR

Worked example

Base	Power	Formula	Result
1.1	5	=ROUND(POWER(A2,B2),4)	1.6105
2	10	=ROUND(POWER(A3,B3),4)	1024
27	0.333333333	=ROUND(POWER(A4,B4),4)	3

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

Mistake	What to do instead
Using ^ vs POWER	Same result; ^ is shorter
Fractional power of negatives	Gives #NUM!

Related functions

SQRT · RRI · FV

📚 Part of the free Excel course: Beginner → Expert · Try it in the Formula Lab or ask the AI Helper.

Continue learning

All Math & Trig guides →

RANDARRAY Function in Excel: A Whole Grid of Random NumbersRANDARRAY returns an array of random numbers, optionally whole numbers between limits — instant…PERCENTOF Function in Excel: Share of the TotalPERCENTOF returns a subset’s share of a total — mostly used inside GROUPBY and…RAND Function in Excel: Random Decimal Between 0 and 1RAND returns a new random number between 0 and 1 on every recalculation —…RANDBETWEEN Function in Excel: Random Whole Numbers for Test DataRANDBETWEEN returns a random integer between two numbers. It recalculates on every change —…

📎 Practice files for this article

• 📗
  Practice workbook: Math & rounding24 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
  ⬇ XLSX · 35 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.