In MySQL, the POW() function raises a number to the power of another number.

You provide the two values as arguments when calling the function.

Syntax

This syntax goes like this:

POW(X,Y)

The function returns the value of X raised to the power of Y.

Alternatively, you can use the following syntax:

POWER(X,Y)

This is because POWER() is a synonym for POW().

Example 1 – Basic Usage

Here’s a basic example to demonstrate how this function works.

SELECT POW(5, 2);

Result:

+-----------+
| POW(5, 2) |
+-----------+
|        25 |
+-----------+

So that example is like doing this:

SELECT 5 * 5;

Result:

+-------+
| 5 * 5 |
+-------+
|    25 |
+-------+

And if we do this:

SELECT POW(5, 3);

Result:

+-----------+
| POW(5, 3) |
+-----------+
|       125 |
+-----------+

It’s like doing this:

SELECT 5 * 5 * 5;

Result:

+-----------+
| 5 * 5 * 5 |
+-----------+
|       125 |
+-----------+

And so on.

Example 2 – Negative Base Number

You can also use negative values for the base number.

If you raise a negative number to the power of an even number, the result is a positive number:

SELECT POW(-5, 2);

Result:

+------------+
| POW(-5, 2) |
+------------+
|         25 |
+------------+

However, if you raise a negative number to the power of an odd number, the result is negative:

SELECT POW(-5, 3);

Result:

+------------+
| POW(-5, 3) |
+------------+
|       -125 |
+------------+

Example 3 – Negative Exponent

You can also use negative exponent values.

Here are a couple examples using a negative exponent with a positive base number.

SELECT 
  POW(5, -2),
  POW(5, -3);

Result:

+------------+------------+
| POW(5, -2) | POW(5, -3) |
+------------+------------+
|       0.04 |      0.008 |
+------------+------------+

And the following two examples use a negative base number (and a negative exponent):

SELECT 
  POW(-5, -2),
  POW(-5, -3);

Result:

+-------------+-------------+
| POW(-5, -2) | POW(-5, -3) |
+-------------+-------------+
|        0.04 |      -0.008 |
+-------------+-------------+

The POWER() Function

The POWER() function is a synonym for POW(). Therefore, we can use it in place of any of the above examples. For example, we can rewrite the previous example to this:

SELECT 
  POWER(-5, -2),
  POWER(-5, -3);

Result:

+---------------+---------------+
| POWER(-5, -2) | POWER(-5, -3) |
+---------------+---------------+
|          0.04 |        -0.008 |
+---------------+---------------+

And we get the same result.