Nth Root of a Number in Excel

There are two ways to find the nth root of any number in Excel. These are using the POWER function or using the caret “ ^ ”. This tutorial will walk through each method.

Find the nth root of a number in Excel

Figure 1. Sample table showing the nth root of a number

Setting up the Data

Create below table with Number, N and Nth Root as headers, and a remarks column for clarification.  

Figure 2. Sample data for finding nth root of a number

Nth Root using the POWER Function

The POWER function returns the result of a given number that is raised to a specified power.  

Syntax

=POWER(number, power)

Where

• Number: the base number we want to raise to a certain power
• Power is the exponent to which the base number is raised;  
• When finding the nth root of a number, the power is presented as “ 1/n ”  

In cell E3, enter the formula:

=POWER(B3,1/C3)

This formula calculates the square root of 25, which is 5.  

Figure 3. Using POWER function to find nth root of a number

Through the POWER function, we can find the nth root of any number in Excel.  

Nth Root using Caret “^” in Excel

The caret symbol “^” in Excel means “to the power of”.  It provides a quicker way to compute for the nth root of any number.  

Syntax

=number^(power)

In cell E3, enter the formula:  

=B3^(1/C3)

Similar to the POWER function, this formula calculates the square root of 25, which is 5.  

Figure 4. Using caret “^” to find the nth root of a number

Below table compares the use of POWER function and the caret “^” in finding the nth root of a number.  

Figure 5. POWER function and caret “^” returning the same results

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