Scribd
Upload
269 views

Resistor Measurement Using Color Coding

This document provides instructions for identifying resistor values using color codes. It explains that small resistors use colored bands to indicate resistance value and tolerance. The color of each band corresponds to a digit in the resistor's value. Reading from left to right gives the resistor's resistance in ohms. Additional bands indicate tolerance, with common tolerances being 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10%. The document provides a table to record observations of resistor color codes and identify resistor values.

Uploaded by

Alain Jimenea
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
269 views

Resistor Measurement Using Color Coding

This document provides instructions for identifying resistor values using color codes. It explains that small resistors use colored bands to indicate resistance value and tolerance. The color of each band corresponds to a digit in the resistor's value. Reading from left to right gives the resistor's resistance in ohms. Additional bands indicate tolerance, with common tolerances being 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10%. The document provides a table to record observations of resistor color codes and identify resistor values.

Uploaded by

Alain Jimenea
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

LYCEUM OF ILIGAN FOUNDATION

Corpus Christi Village


Tubod, Iligan /City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

Name: ___________________________________ Date: ____________________


Experiment 1: Identifying Resistors – Using Color Code
1.1 Objective

To identify resistor using color code.

1.2 Introduction

Resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical


resistance as a circuit element. In electronics, resistor are used to reduce current flow,
adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements and terminal transmission lines.

Electrical functions of resistors are specified by its resistance. The resistance value,
tolerance, and wattage rating are generally printed onto the body of the resistor as numbers
or letters when the resistors body is big enough to read the print, such as large power
resistors. But when the resistor is small such as a 1/4 watt carbon or film type, these
specifications must be shown in some other manner as the print would be too small to read.

So to overcome this, small resistors use coloured painted bands to indicate both their
resistive value and their tolerance with the physical size of the resistor indicating its wattage
rating. These coloured painted bands produce a system of identification generally known as
a Resistors Colour Code.

An international and universally accepted resistor colour code scheme was developed
many years ago as a simple and quick way of identifying a resistors ohmic value no matter
what its size or condition. It consists of a set of individual coloured rings or bands in spectral
order representing each digit of the resistors value.

The resistor colour code markings are always read one band at a time starting from the
left to the right, with the larger width tolerance band oriented to the right side indicating its
tolerance. By matching the colour of the first band with its associated number in the digit
column of the colour chart below the first digit is identified and this represents the first digit
of the resistance value.

Again, by matching the colour of the second band with its associated number in the digit
column of the colour chart we get the second digit of the resistance value and so on. Then
the resistor colour code is read from left to right as illustrated below:
Calculating Resistor Values

The Resistor Colour Code system is all well and good but we need to understand how
to apply it in order to get the correct value of the resistor. The “left-hand” or the most
significant coloured band is the band which is nearest to a connecting lead with the colour
coded bands being read from left-to-right as follows:

Digit, Digit, Multiplier = Colour, Colour x 10 colour in Ohm’s (Ω)

For example, a resistor has the following coloured markings;

Yellow Violet Red = 4 7 2 = 4 7 x 102 = 4700Ω or 4k7 Ohm.

The fourth and fifth bands are used to determine the percentage tolerance of the
resistor. Resistor tolerance is a measure of the resistors variation from the specified resistive
value and is a consequence of the manufacturing process and is expressed as a percentage
of its “nominal” or preferred value.

Typical resistor tolerances for film resistors range from 1% to 10% while carbon
resistors have tolerances up to 20%. Resistors with tolerances lower than 2% are called
precision resistors with the or lower tolerance resistors being more expensive.
Most five band resistors are precision resistors with tolerances of either 1% or 2% while
most of the four band resistors have tolerances of 5%, 10% and 20%. The colour code
used to denote the tolerance rating of a resistor is given as:

Brown = 1%, Red = 2%, Gold = 5%, Silver = 10 %

If resistor has no fourth tolerance band then the default tolerance would be at 20%.

It is sometimes easier to remember the resistor colour code by using mnemonics or


phrases that have a separate word in the phrase to represent each of the Ten + Two
colours in the code. However, these sayings are often very crude but never the less
effective for remembering the resistor colours. Here are just a few of the more “cleaner”
versions but many more exist:

 Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well
 Bad Boys Ring Our Young Girls But Vicky Goes Without
 Bad Boys Ring Our Young Girls But Vicky Gives Willingly — Get Some Now (This one
is only slightly better because it includes the tolerance bands of Gold, Silver, and None).

1.3 Materials and Equipment

No equipment need

1.4 Procedure

a. Identify the value of the resistors using the color codes of the resistors.
b. List the observation of the resistor in the table provided.

1.5 Observation

a. Color code identification

Item 1st 2nd 3rd Multiplier Tolerance Resistor Value


No. Band Band Band
1
Black Brown Violet Black Brown

Green Violet Blue Red Gold


2
Red Blue Yellow Orange Orange
3
White Brown Grey Orange Silver
4
Red Black Black Yellow Black
5
Yellow Green Black Green Gold
6
Orange Grey White Red Brown
7
White Orange Violet Brown Gold
8
Green Grey Red White Red
9
Yellow Black Grey Black Red
10

b. Creating the color code

Item Resistor 1st 2nd 3rd Multiplier Tolerance


No. Value Band Band Band
1 12kΩ ± 5%

1kΩ ± 0.5%
2
12µΩ ± 5%
3
500Ω ±5%
4
25Ω±5%
5
12mΩ±5%
6
250Ω ±5%
7
125Ω ±5%
8
3kΩ ±5%
9
80kΩ ±5%
10

You might also like