PHP Program to Calculate pow(x, n)

Calculating the power of a number is a common mathematical operation. In PHP, this can be done using the pow( ) function, which takes two arguments, the base x and the exponent n, and returns x raised to the power of n. In this article, we will explore different approaches to calculate pow(x, n) in PHP, including using the built-in function and implementing custom functions for educational purposes.

Calculate pow(x, n) using the pow( ) Function

PHP provides a built-in function pow( ) to calculate the power of a number. The pow( ) function in PHP is used to calculate the power of a number. It takes two arguments: the base number (‘x’) and the exponent (‘n’). The function returns the result of raising ‘x’ to the power of ‘n’.

Explanation:

• The pow( ) function takes two arguments, the base x and the exponent n, and returns x raised to the power of n.
• In this example, pow(2, 3) returns 8, which is 2 raised to the power 3.

Example: Implementation to calculate pow(x,n).

PHP

<?php

$x = 2;
$n = 3;

$result = pow($x, $n);
echo "$x to the power $n is $result";

?>

Output

2 to the power 3 is 8

Calculate pow(x, n) using a Loop

To calculate the power of a number using a loop in PHP, you can use a for loop to multiply the base number (‘x’) by itself ‘n’ times. This approach iterates ‘n’ times, each time multiplying the result by x’.

Explanation:

• The power() function initializes a variable result to 1.
• It then multiplies result by x, n times in a loop.
• The final value of result is x raised to the power n.

Example: Implementation to calculate pow(x,n).

PHP

<?php

function power($x, $n) {
    $result = 1;
    for ($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++) {
        $result *= $x;
    }
    return $result;
}

// Driver code
$x = 2;
$n = 3;

$result = power($x, $n);
echo "$x to the power $n is $result";

?>

Output

2 to the power 3 is 8

Calculate pow(x, n) using Recursion

In PHP, you can calculate the power of a number using recursion by defining a function that calls itself with a reduced exponent until the base case is reached. The base case is when the exponent is 0, in which case the function returns 1. Otherwise, the function multiplies the base number by the result of the function called with the reduced exponent.

Explanation:

• The power( ) function checks if n is 0, in which case it returns 1 (since any number raised to the power 0 is 1).
• If n is not 0, it multiplies x by the result of power(x, n - 1), effectively reducing the problem to a smaller one.

Example: Implementation to calculate pow(x,n).

PHP

<?php

function power($x, $n) {
    if ($n == 0) {
        return 1;
    }
    return $x * power($x, $n - 1);
}

// Driver code
$x = 2;
$n = 3;

$result = power($x, $n);
echo "$x to the power $n is $result";

?>

Output

2 to the power 3 is 8