SQL in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

POWER

Synopsis

Use POWER to raise a number to a specific value.

SQL2003 Syntax

POWER( base, exponent )

The result of the POWER function is base raised to the exponent power, or baseexponent. If base is negative, then exponent must be an integer.

DB2, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server

These vendors all support the SQL2003 syntax.

MySql

MySQL supports the same functionality, but requires the use of the keyword POW:

POW( base, exponent )

Example

Raising a positive number to an exponent is straightforward:

SELECT POWER(10,3) FROM dual;
POWER(10,3)
-----------
       1000

Anything raised to the 0th power evaluates to 1:

SELECT POWER(0,0) FROM dual;
POWER(0,0)
----------
         1

Negative exponents move the decimal point to the left:

SELECT POWER(10,-3) FROM dual;
POWER(10,-3)
------------
        .001