4. Resistor Colour Code

5. Why the Colour Code?
The Colour code was developed to overcome two basic problems;
Difficult to print and see numbers on a small resistor
Even if you could see the numbers, placement on a circuit board might hide the number

6. The Code
When you read the colour code the resistor should be read with the gold (or silver) on the RIGHT!!
1st Digit
2nd Digit
# of zeros
Tolerance
Gold +/- 5%
Silver +/- 10%

7. Tolerance 1st Digit 2nd Digit # of zeros Gold +/- 5% Silver +/- 10%
Black
Brown 1
Red 2
Orange 3
Yellow 4
Green 5
Blue 6
Violet 7
Grey 8
White 9
This resistor is read as;
1st Digit is 1
2nd Digit is 3
# of zeros is 2
Answer is
1300 ohms
1000ohm = 1k therefore
1300 ohms = 1.3K

8. Examples Black Brown 1 Red 2 Orange 3 Yellow 4 Green 5 Blue 6 Violet 7
Brown 1
Red 2
Orange 3
Yellow 4
Green 5
Blue 6
Violet 7
Grey 8
White 9
1) Red, Red, Brown, gold
220 ohm
2) Blue, Black, Orange, gold
60,000ohm
Or 60K
3) Yellow, Violet, Yellow, gold
470,000ohm
Or 470K
4) Brown, Black, Blue, gold
10,000,000ohm
Or 10M
5) Grey, White, Red, gold
8900 ohm
Or 8.9K
REMEMBER: 1000ohm = 1k
1,000,000ohm = 1M

9. Decipher the Colour Code
Red red brown
Brown, black
Green, blue, red
Red, red, green
Orange, black, black
Grey, white, yellow
Yellow, violet, orange
Orange, orange, blue
Green, grey, yellow
Yellow, orange, red
Blue, white, red
Red, grey, green
Violet, red, black
Green, blue, brown