Additionally for what was said, if you want integer powers of two, then 1 << x (or 1L << x) is a faster way to calculate 2x than Math.pow(2,x) or a multiplication loop, and is guaranteed to give you an int (or long) result.
It only uses the lowest 5 (or 6) bits of x (i.e. x & 31 (or x & 63)), though, shifting between 0 and 31 (or 63) bits.