Which operator would you use to raise a number to a power in Python?

In Python, to raise a number to a power, the correct operator to use is the double asterisk ( ** ). This operator is specifically designed for exponentiation, allowing you to compute the result of a number raised to the power of another number. For instance, if you wanted to calculate 2 raised to the power of 3, you would write it as 2 ** 3, which evaluates to 8.

This operator is particularly useful because it succinctly conveys the mathematical operation of exponentiation and adheres to the conventions of mathematical notation.

Other choices represent operations that do not perform exponentiation. For example, the single asterisk ( * ) is used for multiplication, the caret ( ^ ) may be seen in some programming languages as a bitwise XOR operator rather than exponentiation, and the forward slash ( / ) is utilized for division. Understanding the correct usage of these operators is essential for performing the right calculations in Python programming.