Purpose

Return value

Syntax

=POWER(number,power)
  • number - Number to raise to a power.
  • power - Power to raise number to (the exponent).

Using the POWER function

The POWER function returns a number raised to a given power. POWER is an alternative to the exponent operator (^) in a math equation.

The POWER function takes two arguments: number and power . Number should be a numeric value, provided as a hardcoded constant or as a cell reference. The power argument functions as the exponent, indicating the power to which number should be raised.

Examples

To raise 2 to the 3rd power, you can use POWER like this:

=POWER(2,3) // returns 8

To raise 2 to the 8th power:

=POWER(2,8) // returns 256

To cube the value in cell A1:

=POWER(A1,3) // cube A1

Fractional exponents

To use the power function with a fractional exponent, enter the fraction directly as the power argument:

=POWER(27,1/3) // returns 3
=POWER(81,1/4) // returns 3
=POWER(256,1/8) // returns 2

Exponent operator

In Excel, exponentiation can also be handled with the exponent (^) operator , so:

=2^2=POWER(2,2)=4
=2^3=POWER(2,3)=8
=2^4=POWER(2,4)=16

Purpose

Return value

Syntax

=PRODUCT(number1,[number2],...)
  • number1 - The first number or range to multiply.
  • number2 - [optional] The second number or range to multiply.

Using the PRODUCT function

The Excel PRODUCT function returns the product of numbers provided as arguments. Because it can accept a range of cells as an argument , PRODUCT is useful when multiplying many cells together

The PRODUCT function takes multiple arguments in the form number1 , number2 , number3 , etc. up to 255 total. Arguments can be a hardcoded constant, a cell reference, or a range. All numbers in the arguments provided are multiplied together. Empty cells and text values are ignored.

Note: The PRODUCT function works differently from the multiplication operator () in that it simply ignores text and empty cells. For example, if A1 contains 2 and B1 contains nothing (i.e. is blank), =PRODUCT(A1,B1) returns 2, while =A1A2 returns zero.

Examples

The PRODUCT function returns the product of supplied arguments:

=PRODUCT(3,8) // returns 24
=PRODUCT(3,8,4) // returns 96

PRODUCT multiplies all numeric values together, so the following formulas are equivalent:

=PRODUCT(A1:A5)
=PRODUCT(A1,A2,A3,A4,A5)
=PRODUCT(A1:A2,A3:A5)

PRODUCT ignores text values and empty cells. The formulas below will return the same result with all cells have numeric values:

=PRODUCT(A1:A5)
=A1*A2*A3*A4*A5

However, the second formula will return zero (0) if any cells are empty, and a #VALUE! error if any cells contain text .

Notes

  • Numbers can be supplied individually or in ranges.
  • PRODUCT can accept up to 255 arguments total.
  • Only numbers in the array or reference are multiplied.
  • Empty cells, logical values, and text in the array or reference are ignored.