Laboratory Exercise No.

1
Resistor Color Codes
John Clement Husain, Kayla Millicent Plazo, Mark Allan Antipuesto
Department of Computer Engineering
School of Engineering, University of San Carlos
Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines
husainjohnclement@gmail.com kaylaplazo2001@gmail.com antipuesto60@gmail.com

Abstract — This laboratory exercise explored the resistor color resistance in the real world is most especially seen in
codes. The exercise required transcribing resistor resistance resistors.
values into bands form. Also performed transcribing bands to
resistance values, with their minimum and maximum values Resistors are everywhere. They can be found built-in in
obtained according to their tolerances. These resistors were then all appliances. They protect components from voltage spikes
measured and compared the measurements to their nominal and and in effect provides proper voltage [5].
have determined the measurements’ deviation from the intended.
The resistance in circuits can be measured using a
Keywords — resistor, resistance, color, color codes, resistor color multimeter. However, not to worry since most resistors
codes. contain a standard 4 color band in its exterior. Each band
represents a value in digits, with the final being the amount
I. INTRODUCTION of tolerance as, like all components, are not manufactured to
perfection. Precision resistors however have its nominal
Electricity is a vital and important foundation of our
modern life [1]. Its study is, one can say, one of the most value printed on.
fundamental in society. Included in the study of electricity are In general purpose resistors, which are the resistors that
the multitude of formulas that explains what they are. have the color bands, have a 4-color code as mentioned. The
first 2 bands refer to the precision values or mantissa. The
In electricity, the electric current is defined to be the flow
third band indicates the power of ten applied. The fourth then
of electrons in an electric circuit. More eloquently, it is the
rate of flow of negatively-charged particles through a cross- indicates the tolerance.
sectional area in a conductor [4].
𝑑𝑞
𝐼 (𝑡 ) =
𝑑𝑡
Electrons in a current have a potential energy. The
difference of these potential energies in two points or per
charge is what we call the potential difference — also called
voltage [4]. Voltage can be compared to a force or an
electromotive force which drives the current flow. The higher
the voltage, the higher the current. If there is an electromotive
force, then there is what we call resistance, or ohmic
resistance, which resists or hinders current. The relationship
between these three is shown in the empirical law of Ohm’s
Law.
Figure 1. Resistors with color bands.
𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅
Resistance resists current [2]. From the formula, we can A resistor’s size has nothing to do with the value of its ohmic
infer that the higher the resistance, the lower the current. resistance. In fact, it has nothing to do with anything at all
Resistance is measured in ohms, after the German physicist except its power dissipation rating.
Georg Simons Ohm [3], symbolized by the Greek omega, Ω. When reading resistors, one should not start at the metal
The application of the concept of electrical or ohmic bands (or the 4th band). The opposite end of the bands is
where one should start. Table 1 gives the nominal values of III. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS
each band.
Table 2: Data Tables 3.1
Table 1: Resistor Color Codes Value Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4
1st and 2nd Bands 3rd Band 4th Band 27 @ 10% Red Violet Black Silver
Color 56 @ 10% Green Blue Black Silver
Significant Digits Multiplier Tolerance
Black 0 100 - 180 @ 5% Brown Gray Brown Gold
Brown 1 101 1% 390 @ 10% Orange White Brown Silver
Red 2 102 2% 680 @ 5% Blue Gray Brown Gold
Orange 3 103 3% 1.5 k @ 20% Brown Green Red None
Yellow 4 104 4% 3.6 k @ 10% Orange Blue Red Silver
Green 5 105 - 7.5 k @ 5% Violet Green Red Gold
Blue 6 106 - 10 k @ 5% Brown Black Orange Gold
Violet 7 107 - 47 k @ 10% Yellow Violet Orange Silver
Gray 8 108 - 820 k @ 10% Gray Red Yellow Silver
White 9 109 - 2.2 M @ 20% Red Red Green None
Gold - 10-1 5%
Silver - 10-2 10% Table 3: Data Tables 3.2
None - - 20% Colors Nominal Tolerance Minimum Maximum
rrBaG 22 10% 19.8 24.2
bLgBaU 68 5% 64.6 71.4
The usage of the resistor color codes are as follows: bRGbRaU 150 5% 142.5 157.5
oobRaG 330 10% 297 363
consider a resistor with a red-violet-yellow-gold GbLbRaU 560 5% 532 588
configuration. The first band, which is red, contains the value bRrraG 1200 10% 1080 1320
of 2. The second band, which is violet, contains the value of rvraG 2700 10% 2430 2970
7. The third band, which is yellow, is the multiplier 104. The grraU 8200 5% 7790 8610
fourth band, which is gold, is the tolerance 5%. Therefore, the bRBoaU 10000 10% 9000 11000
oooaG 33000 5% 31350 34650
resistor has the nominal value of 27×104 @ 5% or 270,000 @ bLgYN 680000 20% 544000 816000
5%. GBGaG 5600000 5% 5320000 5880000
* note: black – B, brown – bR, red – r, orange – o, yellow – y, green – G, blue – bL, violet – v, gray
II. PROCEDURE – g, and white – w; for tolerance: gold – aU, silver – aG, and none – N.

1. Given the nominal values and tolerances in Table 2,

Table 4: Data Tables 3.3
determine and record the corresponding color bands.
Value Min Max Measured Deviation
22 @ 10% 19.8 24.2 22 0
2. Given the color codes in Table 3, determine and record
68 @ 5% 64.6 71.4 68 0
the nominal value, tolerance, and the minimum and 150 @ 5% 142.5 157.5 150 0
maximum acceptable values. 330 @ 10% 297 363 330 0
560 @ 5% 532 588 560 0
3. Obtain a resistor equal to the first value listed in Table 1.2 k @ 10% 1080 1320 1.2 k 0
4. Determine the minimum and maximum acceptable 2.7 k @ 10% 2430 2970 2.7 k 0
values based on the nominal value and tolerance. 8.2 k @ 5% 7790 8610 8.2 k 0
10 k @ 5% 9500 10500 10 k 0
Record these values in Table 4. By simulating the
33 k @ 10% 31350 34650 33 k 0
circuit, measure the actual value of the resistor and 680 k @ 10% 544 k 816 k 680 k 0
record it in Table 4. Determine the deviation percentage 5 M @ 20% 5.32 M 5.88 M 5M 0
of this component and record it in Table 3.3. The
deviation percentage may be found via: Deviation = 100
* (measured-nominal)/nominal. Circle the deviation if Table 2 shows that one can reverse the reading of the
the resistor is out of tolerance. resistor color codes. The perception is on the manufacturer
rather than the customer.
4. Repeat Step 3 for the remaining resistor in Table 3.3.
Table 3 shows the reverse — the group have gathered all
necessary values in filling up the entire table. The minimum
and maximum values show these kinds of resistors don’t
necessarily have the ohmic resistance as shown in their
nominal values. In other words, they deviate from what they
are sold as.
Table 4 shows the nominal values and the measured
values. Due to the pandemic, the group could not obtain
proper laboratory equipment necessary for this exercise and
thus conducting the exercise physically has proved to be an
improbable circumstance. Instead, for the measured column
values, the application Proteus 8 Professional and the online The measured values in Table 4 could be what we call the
program Tinkercad was used. Both are virtual actual exact values of the tested resistors. Nominal values are
media/mediums for creating circuits. called nominal since they are only the intended amount by the
manufacturer. These values do not change according to time
since they are nominally “written in stone” so to speak.
V. REFERENCES
[1] Institute for Energy Research. (2000). History of electricity. IER.
Retrieved September 20, 2021, from
https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/history-electricity/.
[2] Consoliver, E. L., & Mitchell, G. I. (1920). Automative Ignition
Systems. archive.org. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved September 20, 2021,
from https://archive.org/details/automotiveignit03divigoog.
[3] Ohm, G. S. (1827). Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet.
https://doi.org/10.5479/sil.354716.39088005838644
[4] Millikan, R. A., & Bishop, E. S. (1917). Elements of Electricity.
Figure 2. Virtual measurement of a resistor with 560 Ω ohmic resistance. The American Technical Society.
left side is on Proteus 8 Professional and on the right is on Tinkercad. [5] Scherf, K. (2019). What does a resistor do and why is it important?
Del City Blog. Retrieved September 20, 2021, from
IV. CONCLUSION https://blog.delcity.net/what-does-a-resistor-do-and-why-is-it-
important/.
It is easy to determine a resistor’s nominal ohmic [6] “17.3 Factors that affect resistors”. Siyavula. (n.d.). Retrieved
resistance value by their bands by using the resistor color September 20, 2021, from
codes. Measurements were mathematically calculated by a https://intl.siyavula.com/read/science/grade-9/resistance/17-
computer; the values are exactly what’s inputted or set to. In resistance?id=toc-id-3.
the real-life setting, these values would deviate from their
nominal as no component are manufactured perfectly.
Tolerances and other factors are to be considered whenever
obtaining a resistor’s resistance. Therefore, obtaining the
actual resistance of a resistor requires proper measurement.
Resistor color codes are only there to determine the nominal
values and tolerances, where even actual measurements
would go outside the intended.
The deviation column in Table 4 has 0 values. This is
because the virtual resistors were measured exactly by the
ohmmeter (in the case of Proteus) or the multimeter (in the
case of Tinkercad). If it were done with real equipment, the
group could have obtained differing values away or deviating
from the nominal value of the given resistors.
The questions were answered as well. For the first
question: as aforementioned, it would not be possible to see
any values with the largest deviation — or even any deviation
at all. It would, however, be possible to find a value that is
outside the stated tolerance. This is because the stated
tolerance is only just referring to the value at room
temperature. There are multiple factors that could affect
resistors [6]. At the end of the day, these bands are just human
convention and not an actual objective scientific observation
of the physical world.
If steps 3 and 4 are to be repeated, the group may yield
different results for the final two columns. The final column,
the deviation column, depends on the values at the measured
column. This is assuming the group would be conducting on
a real environment. In the current circumstance, there would
be no change at all since the virtual measurement devices
would record the exact resistance inputted on the virtual
resistors.