Make Electronics

Experiencing Electricity 15

Experiment 3: Your First Circuit

FundAmentAls

Decoding resistors (continued)

Note that the color-coding is consistent, so that green, for instance, means
either a value of 5 (for the first two stripes) or 5 zeros (for the third stripe). Also,
the sequence of colors is the same as their sequence in a rainbow.

So, a resistor colored brown-red-green would have a value of 1-2 and five zeros,
making 1,200,000 ohms, or 1.2MΩ. A resistor colored orange-orange-orange
would have a value of 3-3 and three zeros, making 33,000 ohms, or 33KΩ. A
resistor colored brown-black-red would have a value of 1-0 and two additional
zeros, or 1KΩ. Figure 1-43 shows some other examples.

Wider gap between bands

Gold or silver band

Figure 1-43. To read the value of a resistor, first turn it so that the silver or gold stripe
is on the right, or the other stripes are clustered on the left. From top to bottom:
The first resistor has a value of 1-2 and five zeros, or 1,200,000, which is 1.2MΩ. The
second is 5-6 and one zero, or 560Ω. The third is 4-7 and two zeros, or 4,700, which is
4.7KΩ. The last is 6-5-1 and two zeros, or 65,100Ω, which is 65.1KΩ.

If you run across a resistor with four stripes instead of three, the first three
stripes are digits and the fourth stripe is the number of zeros. The third numeric
stripe allows the resistor to be calibrated to a finer tolerance.

Confusing? Absolutely. That’s why it’s easier to use your meter to check the values.
Just be aware that the meter reading may be slightly different from the claimed
value of the resistor. This can happen because your meter isn’t absolutely accu-
rate, or because the resistor is not absolutely accurate, or both. As long as you’re
within 5% of the claimed value, it doesn’t matter for our purposes.