How to use the powers of 3 table
- Scroll to the power you want, or type the exponent (10), the power (3^10) or a value (59049) into the filter box.
- Read the exact value, or its size in scientific notation.
- Click a value to copy it as plain digits, without the commas.
Powers of 3 in practice
Powers of 3 turn up wherever things split three ways. A tournament where each match is between three players needs 3ⁿ entrants to come out even, and a ternary choice repeated n times has 3ⁿ outcomes. They also give the answers to classic puzzles: with a balance scale, n weighings can find one heavier coin among up to 3ⁿ coins, because every weighing has three results.
The table runs to 3⁴⁰ = 12,157,665,459,056,928,801, about 1.2 × 10¹⁹. For higher powers, or powers of another number, use the powers table.