Whether you are asking: “what is 5 to the power of 3?” or “what is 5 to the 3 power?” or “what is 5 raised to the power of 3?” or “what is 5 raised to 3?” you are looking to perform a mathematical operation called exponentiation of 5 to the power of 3. Don’t be confused by the term “exponentiation”. The calculation itself is not too complex. But before we explain the details of the calculation, here is your answer:
5 to the power of 3 = 53 = 5^3 = 125
ANSWER: 125
You can confirm this calculation or perform any other exponent calculation in the exponent calculator below:
Raising 5 to the Power of 3 Explained
First, let’s clarify the terms. We mentioned that we are performing exponentiation when we raise 5 to the power of 3. While performing exponentiation we multiply a number called base (mathematically denoted as “b” or “x”) by itself a certain number of times (mathematically denoted as “n” or “y”). The “number of times” is called exponent. To sum up, in this example 5 is the base (b) and 3 is an exponent (n).
Mathematical Expression for 5 to the 3 Power
There are two ways how raising 5 to the 3 power is written. You can write this expression with a superscript which is a small number written immediately above and to the right of the base as shown below:
53
Another way to write 5 to the 3 power is to use the caret (^) symbol. For example, this comes handy for calculations in Excel where you perform exponentiation using caret (^) symbol. Here is the expression:
5^3
Does not matter whether you use a superscript or a caret symbol to write the expression the underpinning formula looks like this:
5 to the power of 3 = 5 x … x 5 (3 times)
To recap 5 is the base and 3 is the exponent (number of times that you multiply the base with).
How to solve 5 to the 3 power on a scientific calculator
If you are using a scientific calculator you can quickly raise 5 to the power of 3 following these steps:
- Type 5 in the calculator
- Then press “xy” button
- Enter 3 and hit “=”
You will notice that the calculator expression uses the caret (^) symbol as opposed to a superscript.
For more exponent calculations visit our exponent calculator page.
Common exponent calculation quick table
Find some of the most common exponent calculations below. In the first column you see the base or x and in the subsequent columns you have exponents or y with the caret (^) symbol.
| Base |
^1 |
^2 |
^3 |
^4 |
^5 |
| 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 2 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
16 |
32 |
| 3 |
1 |
9 |
27 |
81 |
243 |
| 4 |
1 |
16 |
64 |
256 |
1,024 |
| 5 |
1 |
25 |
125 |
625 |
3,125 |
| 6 |
1 |
36 |
216 |
1,296 |
7,776 |
| 7 |
1 |
49 |
343 |
2,401 |
16,807 |
| 8 |
1 |
64 |
512 |
4,096 |
32,768 |
| 9 |
1 |
81 |
729 |
6,561 |
59,049 |
| 10 |
1 |
100 |
1,000 |
10,000 |
100,000 |
| 11 |
1 |
121 |
1,331 |
14,641 |
161,051 |
| 12 |
1 |
144 |
1,728 |
20,736 |
248,832 |
| 13 |
1 |
169 |
2,197 |
28,561 |
371,293 |
| 14 |
1 |
196 |
2,744 |
38,416 |
537,824 |
| 15 |
1 |
225 |
3,375 |
50,625 |
759,375 |
| 16 |
1 |
256 |
4,096 |
65,536 |
1,048,576 |
| 17 |
1 |
289 |
4,913 |
83,521 |
1,419,857 |
| 18 |
1 |
324 |
5,832 |
104,976 |
1,889,568 |
| 19 |
1 |
361 |
6,859 |
130,321 |
2,476,099 |
| 20 |
1 |
400 |
8,000 |
160,000 |
3,200,000 |