Hi all, my name is Glenn and i’ll be posting some projects and tutorials which I find interesting here in Greg’s site. I am also running my blog which you can visit here. My first post will be about the BASICS – reading color coded resistors, I know this will be quite boring for some but this is important especially to the new hobbyist.
Resistors are coded with colored bands in its shell, usually four colors but sometimes you can find five. Each color represent numbers which you can decode to get the exact value. The first three colors are the resistance values and the fourth color represents the tolerance. As you can see in the picture, the 3 colors – brown,black and red are the resistance values whereas the gold color represents the tolerance value. In the set of resistance values, the third color, in this case the “red”, is also called the “multiplier”.Multipliers tell us the number of zero’s we will add to the first 2 values, in this case the ” brown and black”. Below are the values which the colors represent:
Resistance Values
0=Black
1=Brown
2=Red
3=Orange
4=Yellow
5=Green
6=Blue
7=Violet
8=Gray
9=White
Tolerance Values
5%=Gold
10%=Silver
20%=None/No Color
Basing on these numbers, we can then read the resistance of the resistor in our picture.
Brown
1
Black
0
Red
00
Gold
5%
= 1,000 ohms/5% tolerance or 1 K/5% tolerance
since the letter “K”, represents thousands ( stands for “Kilo” ), e.g. y2k = year 2000, it is also safe to say that the value is 1 Kilohms.
If the value of the resistor reaches Millions, it will be represented by the letter “M”, meaning Megaohms, like the example below:
Brown
1
Black
0
Violet
0000000
Gold
5%
= 100,000,000 ohms/5% tolerance or 100 M/5% tolerance
TIP: Back in my uni days, we usually remember this mnemonic to know the values in order –
“Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts, But Vodka Goes Well. Get Some Now ” *** courtesy of Tom Coyle
Bad=Black, Booze=Brown…Get=Gold,Some=Siver…..and so on.
* original image is from this site
22 Responses to “Reading Color Coded Resistors”
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I agree, I like your mnemonic
Actually, it is easiest to remember these from the colors of the rainbow.
The absence of light is black, and they progressively get brighter.
so you have Black, then Brown, and then if you remember ROY G. BIV, from third grade, these are the colors of the spectrum. Then above that you have gray, and then white, which is the brightest. So you have
Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, White.
Note, that indigo is not a color for resistors. Who really knows what color indigo is anyway?
.. There is not enough contrast between that and blue, so it is left out.
That was the original mnemonic, but I removed it because it is very crude.
MrDan’s version is much more ” subtle “.
I also found a very good resource on color code and other resistance data such as using resistance for current to voltage converter or voltage to current converter etc. and a lot more information at
http://www.electronicsinfoline.com/CircuitBook/Useful_Resources/Electronics_Basics_and_Resources/ at
page 2
I can’t see how you ever found anything there. That site seems to be an ad trap.
wow, you’re right – that site is terrible. It looks like it is all ads! content should be easy to find.
[...] My father was an electrical engineer. This is the kind of stuff he knew. I remember once learning this, but it was probably 20 years ago, so I’ve forgotten how. Guess I should use the information to bone up on my knowledge I don’t actually use for anything. (via MAKE blog) Resistors are coded with colored bands in its shell, usually four colors but sometimes you can find five. Each color represent numbers which you can decode to get the exact value. The first three colors are the resistance values and the fourth color represents the tolerance. [...]
what is the code for a 2.2 ohm resistor at 1 W
Is it red black black
Is it red black black
So how do you find the voltage they give out from the resistans
I have a 1/4 watt resistor color coded orangem orange, red, black silver. Whatis it trying to tell me? Thank you.
hi yall im gay and glenn is gay with greg
Thanks for sharing
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
Why White Gold Navel Rings Are Considered More Stylish, Elegant And Even Classy
Did you know that white gold navel rings are a lot more popular than yellow gold ones? This is a fact and the explanation for it is quite simple actually: the recent years have seen an upsurge in people’s preference for white gold in general, regardle…
How 2 make resistors?
So how do you find the voltage they give out from the resistans?
So how do you find the voltage they give out from the resistans
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
Thank You For give a wonder full and need full image of resistor….