Fillable Printable Resistor Color Codes and Primer Chart
Fillable Printable Resistor Color Codes and Primer Chart
Resistor Color Codes and Primer Chart
Common Resistor
Resistors are color coded for easy
reading. Imagine how many blind
technicians there would be
otherwise.
To determine the value of a given
resistor look for the gold or silver
tolorance band and rotate the
resistor as in the photo
above.(Tolerance band to the
right). Look at the 1st color band
and determine its color. This
maybe difficult on small or oddly
colored resistors. Now look at the
chart and match the "1st & 2nd
color band" color to the "Digit it
represents". Write this number
down.
Now look at the 2nd color band
and match that color to the same
chart. Write this number next to
the 1st Digit.
The Last color band is the number
you will multiply the result by.
Match the 3rd color band with the
chart under multiplier. This is the
number you will mulitple the other
2 numbers by. Write it next to the
other 2 numbers with a
multiplication sign before it.
Example : 2 2 x 1,000.
To pull it all together now, simply
multiply the first 2 numbers (1st
number in the tens column and
2nd in the ones column) by the
Multiplier.
Example:
First color is red which is 2
Second color is
black
which is 0
third color is yellow which is
10,000
Torerance is silver which is 10%
Resistor Color Code Chart
1st. & 2nd Color
Band
Digit it
Represents
-----Multiplier-----
BLACK
0
X1
BROWN
1 X10
RED
2 X100
ORANGE
3 X1,000 or 1K
YELLOW
4 X10,000 or 10K
GREEN
5 X100,000 or 100K
BLUE
6 X1,000,000 or 1M
VIOLET
7
Silver is divide by
100
GRAY
8 Gold is divide by 10
WHITE
9
Tolerances
Gold= 5%
Silver=10%
None=20%
Tolerance Explanation
Resistors are never the exact value that the color codes
indicate.Therefore manufacturers place a tolerance
color band on the resistor to tell you just how accurate
this resistor is made. It is simply a measurment of the
imperfections. Gold means the resistor is within 5% of
being dead-on accurate. Silver being within 10% and no
color band being within 20%. To determine the exact
range that the resistor may be, take the value of the
resistor and mutiply it by 5,10, 0r 20%. That is the
number that the resistor may go either way.
Example: A 1,000 Ohm resistor with a gold band
maybe any value between 950 to 1050 Ohms.
Example: A 22,000 Ohm resistor with a silver band
maybe any value between 19,800 and 24,200 Ohms.
FAQ
Just a few common questions to help you out.
1) Which side of the resistor do I read from?
The Gold or Silver band is always set to the right,
Resistor Color Codes & Primer
Therefore the equation is:
2 0 x 10,000 = 200,000 Ohms
Direct questions to:
electronics@pobox.com
BACK
Copyright 1997 -- Infinet-FX
then you read from left to right. Sometimes there
will be no tolerance band -- Simply find the side
that has a band closest to a lead and make that the
first band.
2) Sometimes the colors are hard to make out.
How do I make certain what the value of the
resistor really is?
Occasionally the colors are jumbled or burnt off.
The only way to read it then is with a multimeter
across the leads
3) How do I remember this sequence of colors?
Remember the color codes with this sentence:
Big Brown Rabbits Often Yield Great Big Vocal
G
roans
W
hen
G
ingerly
S
lapped.
Resistor Color Codes & Primer