C Program to find power of any number

C Program to Calculate the Power of a Number

Example on how to calculate the power of a number if the exponent is an integer. Also, you will learn to compute the power using pow() function.

To understand this example, you should have the knowledge of following topics:

The program below takes two integers from the user (a base number and an exponent) and calculates the power.

For example: In case of 2³

• 2 is the base number
• 3 is the exponent
• And, the power is equal to 2*2*2

Example #1: Power of a Number Using while Loop

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

{

    int base, exponent;

    long long result = 1;

    printf("Enter a base number: ");

    scanf("%d", &base);

    printf("Enter an exponent: ");

    scanf("%d", &exponent);

    while (exponent != 0)

    {

        result *= base;

        --exponent;

    }

    printf("Answer = %lld", result);

    return 0;

}

Output

Enter a base number: 3

Enter an exponent: 4

Answer = 81

The above technique works only if the exponent is a positive integer.

Example #2: Power Using pow() Function

#include <stdio.h>

#include <math.h>

int main()

{

    double base, exponent, result;

    printf("Enter a base number: ");

    scanf("%lf", &base);

    printf("Enter an exponent: ");

    scanf("%lf", &exponent);

    // calculates the power

    result = pow(base, exponent);

    printf("%.1lf^%.1lf = %.2lf", base, exponent, result);

    return 0;

}

Output

Enter a base number: 2.3

Enter an exponent: 4.5

2.3^4.5 = 42.44