GROUP 4

Abante, Johnny Jendl L.

Coloma, Cynthia R.
Reyes, Jen Lynet D.

COLOR CODING & TESTING OF RESISTORS

The resistor is a passive electrical component to create resistance in the flow of electric
current. In almost all electrical networks and electronic circuits they can be found. The resistance
is measured in ohms. An ohm is the resistance that occurs when a current of one ampere passes
through a resistor with a one volt drop across its terminals. The current is proportional to the
voltage across the terminal ends. This ratio is represented by Ohm’s law (R = V / I).
Resistors are used for many purposes. A few examples include delimit electric current,
voltage division, heat generation, matching and loading circuits, control gain, and fix time
constants. They are commercially available with resistance values over a range of more than nine
orders of magnitude. They can be used to as electric brakes to dissipate kinetic energy from
trains, or be smaller than a square millimeter for electronics.

Figure 1.1 Resistor

For the resistor symbol, the international IEC symbol is a rectangular shape. In the USA
the ANSI standard is very common, this is a zigzag line (shown on the right).

Fixed resistor symbol ANSI standard Fixed resistor symbol

 STANDARD RESISTOR VALUES AND COLOR
The value or the resistance of a resistor is obviously very important. Components and
wires are coded with colors to identify their value and function.

Figure 1.2 Resistor Color Code

Figure 1.3 Resistor Color Coding Table

 The colors brown, red, green, blue, and violet are used as tolerance codes on 5-band
resistors only. All 5-band resistors use a colored tolerance band. The blank (20%) “band” is only
used with the “4-band” code (3 colored bands + a blank “band”).

Figure 1.4 4-band code and 5-band code

TESTING OF RESISTORS

To check to see whether a resistor is good or not, we need to only perform one test and
this is to check the resistor's resistance value, using the ohmmeter of a multimeter.
Test a Resistor with an Ohmmeter
Testing a Resistor with an ohmmeter is the best, easiest and most effective way to tell
whether a resistor is good or not. To set up for the check, we take the ohmmeter and place its
probes across the leads of the resistor. The orientation doesn't matter, because resistance isn't
polarized. The resistance that the ohmmeter reads should be close to the rated resistance of the
resistor. For example, the following resistor above is a 1KΩ resistor with a tolerance rating of 5%.
Therefore, the resistance of the resistor can vary between 950Ω and 1050Ω.
If the ohmmeter is reading in the value and tolerance range of the resistor, the resistor is
good. If the ohmmeter is reading (especially drastically) outside of this range, the resistor is
defective and should be replaced.

Figure 1.5 Testing of Resistor with an Ohmmeter

How to Test whether a Resistor is Open
If a resistor is reading a very high resistance, above its rated value, it is open. It is defective
and, thus, should be replaced.
How to Test whether a Resistor is Shorted
If a resistor is reading a very low resistance, near 0Ω, it's shorted internally. It is defective
and, thus, should be replaced.
A resistance test is the only test that is needed to determine whether a resistor is good. If
you want to examine more advanced features of a resistor, then additional tests may be
necessary, but for all basic purposes, this test is sufficient for checking resistors.

REFERENCES:
[1] http://www.resistorguide.com/what-is-a-resistor/
[2] https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/resistors/all
[3] https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/reference/chpt-2/resistor-color-codes/
[4] http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/How-to-test-a-resistor