A resistor is an electrical component that opposes the flow of current. We all have seen different resistors used in the circuits. But have you noticed that there are some colour bands on the resistor? What they indicate?
Actually, Resistors are coded are with colours to identify their value and function. There are different resistors depending upon a number of colour bands on it. Such as 3 band, 4 band , and 5 band resistor. Using the following table, you can easily tell the resistor value.
|
Colour
|
Digit
|
Multiplier
|
Tolerance (%)
|
|
Black
|
0
|
100
|
|
|
Brown
|
1
|
101
|
1
|
|
Red
|
2
|
102
|
2
|
|
Orange
|
3
|
103
|
|
|
Yellow
|
4
|
104
|
|
|
Green
|
5
|
105
|
0.5
|
|
Blue
|
6
|
106
|
0.25
|
|
Violet
|
7
|
107
|
0.1
|
|
Grey
|
8
|
108
|
|
|
White
|
9
|
109
|
|
|
Gold
|
10-1
|
5
|
|
|
Silver
|
10-2
|
10
|
|
|
None
|
20
|
(a). 4-Band Resistor
The first two bands are digit values from column-2 of above table. The third band give multiplier value from column-3. The fourth band give tolerance value from column-4.
Examples:
1.
This resistor is coloured as Yellow-Violet-Orange-Gold
Resistance = 47 kΩ with a tolerance of ± 5%.
2.
This resistor is coloured as Green-Red-Gold-Silver
Resistance = 5.2 Ω with a tolerance of ± 10%.
3.
This resistor is coloured as White-Violet-Black
Note: There are only three bands in this resistor. So to calculate resistance, fourth band’s tolerance is taken as 20%.
Resistance = 97 Ω with a tolerance of ± 20%.
(b). 5-Band Resistor
The first three bands are digit values from column-2 of above table. The fourth band give multiplier value from column-3. The fifth band give tolerance value from column-4.
Examples:
1.
This resistor is coloured as Orange-Orange-Black-Brown-Violet
Resistance = 3.3 kΩ with a tolerance of ± 0.1%.
2.
This resistor is coloured as Brown-Green-Grey-Silver-Red
Resistance = 1.58 Ω with a tolerance of ± 2%.
3.
This resistor is coloured as Blue-Brown-Green-Silver-Blue
Resistance = 6.15 Ω with a tolerance of ± 0.25%.
So this is how you can easily tell resistor value by viewing different colour bands printed on the resistor.
