Reading Resistors

Resistors have a system of colours

to tell their value
So What does a resistor do ?
Just like a tap restricts the flow of Water

A resistor restricts the flow of electricity in a circuit

A rough comparison would be a tap wide open was 0 ohms resistance
and a tap almost closed would be high in resistance value
This is what a resistor looks like
top with paint
bottom without painted finish

The electrical symbol for a resistor
Here are some symbols of various types of resistors
Carbon film resistor
A complete range of 1/4W Carbon Film Resistors suitable for most
applications. High stability and solid construction ensure a long and stable life.
5% tolerance for the full range from 1R to 10M.

Metal film resistor
A wide range of 1/4W Metal Film Resistors with 1% tolerance, suitable for
applications requiring tight tolerances. Highly stable and low noise
characteristics, together with low temperature co-efficient makes these resistors
ideal for the most demanding applications.

Variable resistor
New Range of Sliding Potentiometers in
Type B, ideal for volume and sound
projects

Most resistors are so small that it is
impractical to print their values on them
using normal numeric characters. Instead,
they are marked using a code of coloured
bands. Resistors made to tolerance of
5% and 10% are marked with 4 bands
while higher precision types, such as 2%,
1% or better, may be marked differently.
A method of remembering the colours is to use a ditty like this
Barnies
Bull
Ran
Over
Your
Garden
Blue
Violets
Gone
White

-- Black
-- Brown
-- Red
-- Orange
-- Yellow
-- Green
-- Blue
-- Violet
-- Grey
-- White
-- 0
-- 1
-- 2
-- 3
-- 4
-- 5
-- 6
-- 7
-- 8
-- 9


Band 1 you simply read the value from the colour
Band 2 You read the value of the colour
Band 3 Is the multiplier band so the colour (Number)
simply means the number of Zeros on the end of reading
one and two
The tolerance Band
The last band (Usually gold or Silver)
Resistors that are manufactured to a high
degree of accuracy are expensive to
produce
Therefore they are produced to differing
tolerances (therefore price)

Highly accurate are the most expensive
etc
Tolerance band
The tolerance Band
If the tolerance band is gold then it has a
tolerance of + or 5%

Therefore if it is a 100 resister it would
measure between 95 and 105
The tolerance Band
If the tolerance band is silver then it has a
tolerance of + or 10%

Therefore if it is a 100 resister it would
measure between 90 and 110

Tolerance band
Additionally there are six other colours that are used in the tolerance band
These being

Red + 0r 2%
Brown + 0r 1%
Green + or 0.5%
Blue + or - 0.25%
Violet + or - 0.1%
Grey + or - 0.05%

However these are not common and you will mostly see gold or silver at school
An example of how to read a resistor
The first colour is Yellow which equals --- 4
The second colour is Violet which equals -- 7
The third of multiplier is red which equals -- 2 or more correctly 2 zeros
on the end of the first two colours

Which means this resistor is 4700 ohms
And the gold (or Tolerance band) means that it will have an accuracy of plus or
minus 5%
Kilo = 1000 - K
Mega = 1000000 - M

therefore
Green Brown Red Gold
Green Blue Yellow Gold
Brown Violet Brown Gold
Red Red Black Gold
Yellow Violet Brown Gold

Yellow Violet Orange Gold

Yellow Violet Blue Sliver

Black Blue Black silver
Green Brown Red Gold
5 1 00 +/-5%

Where Green = 5
Brown = 1
Red = 2 or more correct 2 zeros

so the correct answer is = 5100 +/- 5%

It can then be reduced down to
By dividing by 1000 or Kilo to

5.1K
Green Blue Yellow Gold
5 6 0000
Barnies --Black -- 0
Bull --Brown -- 1
Ran --Red -- 2
Over --Orange -- 3
Your --Yellow -- 4
Garden --Green -- 5
Blue --Blue -- 6
Violets --Violets -- 7
Gone --Grey -- 8
White --White -- 9
A method of remembering the colours is to use a ditty like this