POWER in WPS Spreadsheet: Raise Numbers to Powers and Keep the Model Explicit

• Introduced: documented by 2019-05-27 in the official WPS lesson; original introduction is not established.
• Availability: WPS Office for Windows Personal; no numeric release is stated. This is documentation evidence, not an installed-build guarantee.
• Scope: the exact supported build range is unverified. The Windows lesson does not establish equivalent availability in other WPS clients.
• Checked: October 14, 2026 against function-specific documentation. Examples were independently calculated; no new native WPS test was performed.

=POWER(number,power)

number is the base; power is the exponent. Both are supplied in the examples. Reversing them can produce a very different result: 3⁴ is 81, whereas 4³ is 64.

The dated Windows lesson describes a real base and exponentiation, but does not document every combination of signs, fractional exponents or zero boundaries. The controls below use ordinary real-valued cases with independently derived results.

=POWER(3,4)
=3^4
=POWER(4,3)

Expected results: 81, 81 and 64. The first two expressions describe the same operation; the third swaps the roles of base and exponent.

For base 2, enter exponents 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 in A2:A6 and fill =POWER(2,A2) down. Expected values are 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16. The zero exponent is applied to a nonzero base; this table does not establish a native 0⁰ policy.

=POWER(2,-3)
=1/POWER(2,3)

Expected results: 0.125 and 0.125. A negative exponent does not make a positive base’s result negative. It creates the reciprocal of the corresponding positive power.

The base must be nonzero for this reciprocal model. The guide does not assign an unverified native error label to zero raised to a negative power.

=POWER(-3,2)
=POWER(-3,3)

Expected results: 9 and −27. An even integer exponent removes the base’s sign; an odd integer exponent preserves it. For an operator-based control, write =(-3)^2 explicitly so the intended base is visible.

This does not establish every negative-base fractional-exponent rule. A mathematical real root and a spreadsheet’s finite exponent evaluation can require separate testing. Use SQRT for a documented square-root requirement rather than assuming an arbitrary power call has identical boundary handling.

Suppose a fictional quantity is multiplied by 1.1 at each of three identical steps, starting at 100:

=100*POWER(1.1,3)

Expected result: approximately 133.1. The successive values are 100, 110, 121 and 133.1 when the initial state and three steps are shown.

Adding ten units three times would instead produce 130. That is a different linear rule. State whether the model repeats a multiplier or adds a fixed amount before interpreting the output; POWER does not choose the model for you.

Define a constructed response y=5*POWER(x,2). For x values 1, 2 and 3, expected outputs are 5, 20 and 45. Doubling x from one to two multiplies the response by four, not by two.

If D2:D4 contain those inputs, use =5*POWER(D2,2) and fill down in E2:E4. Preserve the constant five and the exponent separately in a reusable sheet so changes to either are visible.

Check base versus exponent order, parentheses, sign and the meaning of repeated multiplication. Format changes cannot convert an exponent into a different operation.

Large powers can grow quickly, and a mathematically equivalent expanded expression may create different intermediate precision concerns. The dated lesson does not establish a maximum exact result, all overflow cases or a complete coercion matrix. Treat the displayed decimal values as independent expectations for these controlled inputs, not native cross-version guarantees.

• WPS Academy: POWER lesson, 2019-05-27 (Chinese; Windows Personal scope).
• Editorial testing standards.

The cited product lesson was read directly. Worked outputs are independent expectations, not captured native WPS results or proof of support across all current clients.