POWER Function - SQL Server Documentation

POWER (Transact-SQL)

Returns a number raised to a specified power.

Syntax

POWER ( base, exponent )

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Type
`base`	The expression that is the base. Can be of any of the numeric data types.	`numeric_expression`
`exponent`	The expression that is the exponent. Can be of any of the numeric data types.	`numeric_expression`

Return Type

Returns the same data type as the input base parameter, unless the base is a small data type and the result requires a larger data type. In that case, it returns the smallest data type that can hold the result.

Examples

Example 1: Basic Usage

Calculates 2 raised to the power of 3.

SELECT POWER(2, 3);
-- Result: 8

Example 2: Using Decimal Numbers

Calculates 3.5 raised to the power of 2.5.

SELECT POWER(3.5, 2.5);
-- Result: 20.500957526168529676625469139641

Example 3: Negative Exponent

Calculates 10 raised to the power of -2 (which is 1/100).

SELECT POWER(10, -2);
-- Result: 0.010000000000000000000000000000000

Example 4: With Table Data

Calculates a discount factor for each product's price.

-- Assuming a table named Products with columns ProductID and Price
-- SELECT
--     ProductID,
--     Price,
--     POWER(Price, 0.9) AS DiscountedPrice
-- FROM
--     Products;

Note: The example above is commented out. In a real scenario, you would uncomment and adapt it to your table structure.

Remarks

If either argument is NULL, POWER returns NULL.
If the exponent is 0, POWER returns 1.
If the exponent is negative, POWER returns 0.
The function returns NULL if an attempt is made to calculate a result that is outside the range of the return type.
For better performance, use the most precise data type that is appropriate for the input.