What are resistors?

Resistors

A resistor is a two-terminal electronic component that produces a voltage across its terminals that is proportional to the electric current passing through it in accordance with Ohm's law:

V = IR

Resistors are elements of electrical networks and electronic circuits and are ubiquitous in most electronic equipment. Practical resistors can be made of various compounds and films, as well as resistance wire (wire made of a high-resistivity alloy, such as nickel/chrome).

Here is a resistor color code chart:

While these codes are most often associated with resistors, then can also apply to capacitors and other components.

The standard color coding method for resistors uses a different color to represent each number 0 to 9: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, grey, white. On a 4 band resistor, the first two bands represent the significant digits. On a 5 and 6 band, the first three bands are the significant digits. The next band represents the multiplier or "decade". As in the above 4 band example, the first two bands are red and purple, representing 2 and 7. The third band is orange, representing 3 meaning 103 or 1000. This gives a value of 27 * 1000, or 27000 Ohms. The gold and silver decade bands divide by a power of 10, allowing for values below 10 Ohms. The 5 and 6 band resistors work exactly the same as the 4 band resistor. They just add one more significant digit. The band after the decade is the tolerance. This tells how accurate the resistance compared to its specification. The 4 band resistor has a gold tolerance, or 5%, meaning that the true value of the resistor could be 5% more or less than 27000 Ohms, allowing values between 25650 to 28350 Ohms. The last band on a 6 band resistor is the temperature coefficient of the resistor, measured in PPM/C or parts per million per degree Centigrade. Brown (100 PPM/C) are the most popular, and will work for most reasonable temperature conditions. The others are specially designed for temperature critical applications.