^ operator

Used to raise a number to the power of an exponent.

Syntax

result=number^exponent

The ^ operator syntax has these parts:

Part Description
result Required; any numeric variable.
number Required; any numeric expression.
exponent Required; any numeric expression.

Remarks

A number can be negative only if exponent is an integer value. When more than one exponentiation is performed in a single expression, the ^ operator is evaluated as it is encountered from left to right.

Usually, the data type of result is a Double or a Variant containing a Double. However, if either number or exponent is a Null expression, result is Null.

Example

This example uses the ^ operator to raise a number to the power of an exponent.

Dim MyValue
MyValue = 2 ^ 2    ' Returns 4.
MyValue = 3 ^ 3 ^ 3    ' Returns 19683.
MyValue = (-5) ^ 3    ' Returns -125.

Note

For 64-bit users: Because the caret operator is used to create Long Long data types in a 64-bit environment, the VBA IDE may not interpret this operator correctly. To ensure proper interpretation, add a space character immediately before the caret as shown.

 x=y^2    ' Will generate "expected )" from VBA IDE.
 x=y ^2   ' Will be interpreted as x equals y squared.

See also

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