pow()

The pow() CSS function is an exponential function that returns the value of a base raised to the power of a number.

The {{CSSxRef("exp")}} function is a special case of pow() where the value of the base is the mathematical constant e.

Syntax

css

/* A <number> value */
width: calc(10px * pow(5, 2)); /* 10px * 25 = 250px */
width: calc(10px * pow(5, 3)); /* 10px * 125 = 1250px */
width: calc(10px * pow(2, 10)); /* 10px * 1024 = 10240px */

Parameters

The pow(base, number) function accepts two comma-separated values as its parameters.

base
- : A calculation that resolves to a {{CSSxRef("<number>")}}, representing the base.
number
- : A calculation that resolves to a {{CSSxRef("<number>")}}, representing the exponent.

Return value

Returns a {{CSSxRef("<number>")}} representing base<sup>number</sup>, that is, base raised to the power of number.

Formal syntax

Examples

Scale headings by fixed ratio

The pow() function can be useful for strategies like CSS Modular Scale, which relates all the font-sizes on a page to each other by a fixed ratio.

HTML

html

<h1>Heading 1</h1>
<h2>Heading 2</h2>
<h3>Heading 3</h3>
<h4>Heading 4</h4>
<h5>Heading 5</h5>
<h6>Heading 6</h6>

CSS

css

h1 {
  font-size: calc(1rem * pow(1.5, 4));
}
h2 {
  font-size: calc(1rem * pow(1.5, 3));
}
h3 {
  font-size: calc(1rem * pow(1.5, 2));
}
h4 {
  font-size: calc(1rem * pow(1.5, 1));
}
h5 {
  font-size: calc(1rem * pow(1.5, 0));
}
h6 {
  font-size: calc(1rem * pow(1.5, -1));
}

Result

{{EmbedLiveSample('Scale headings by fixed ratio', '100%', '300px')}}