Resistor Color Codes
Contents

Four-band resistor color codes

         (PDF file for 4-band color codes)
4-band color code

Example: (four bands)
 example
Yellow, Green, Orange, Silver
Yellow and green represent 4 and 5, respectively. Those consist of the first and second digits, so it will be 45. The third band is orange. As a multiplier, it is × 1000, so you will calculate 45 × 1000; therefore, the resistance is 45,000 Ω. The forth band, silver, represents the tolerance, so the final expression of the resistance is 45,000 ± 10% Ω.

Problem 1:
pb1-4b                                  hint:
Red, Green, Red, Gold
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω)
Problem 2:
pb2-4b
Brown, Yellow, Blue, Gold
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω)
Problem 3:
pb3-4b
Green, Violet, Blue, Silver
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω)

Five-band resistor color codes

         (PDF file for 5-band color codes)
5-band color code

Example: (five bands)
 example
Yellow, White, Yellow, Brown, Gold
Yellow, white and yellow represent 4, 9 and 4, respectively. Those consist of the first, second and third digits, so it will be 494. The forth band is brown. As a multiplier, it is × 10, so you will calculate 494 × 10; therefore, the resistance is 4,940 Ω. The fifth band, gold, represents the tolerance, so the final expression of the resistance is 4,940 ± 5% Ω.

Problem 1:
pb1-5b                                  hint:
Red, Violet, Blue, Blue, Gold
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω)
Problem 2:
pb2-5b
Green, Grey, Green, Red, Silver
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω)
Problem 3:
pb3-5b
Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, Gold
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω)

Six-band resistor color codes

         (PDF file for 6-band color codes)
6-band color code

Example: (six bands)
 example
Violet, Grey, Green, Red, Silver, Brown
Violet, grey and green represent 7, 8 and 5, respectively. Those consist of the first, second and third digits, so it will be 785. The forth band is red. As a multiplier, it is × 100, so you will calculate 785 × 100; therefore, the resistance is 78,500 Ω. The fifth band, silver, represents the tolerance, 10%. The sixth band is the temperature coefficient of the resistor. Brown represents 100ppm/K. Namely, the final expression of the resistance is 78,500 ± 10% Ω with Temp. Coeff. 100 ppm/K.

Problem 1:
pb1-6b                                  hint:
Blue, Green, Yellow, Blue, Gold, Yellow
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω) with Temperature Coefficient ppm/K
Problem 2:
pb2-6b
Red, Grey, Violet, Yellow, Gold, Orange
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω) with Temperature Coefficient ppm/K
Problem 3:
pb3-6b
Green, Orange, Blue, Yellow, Silver, Red
What is the resistance? (Type only numbers, no comma, no symbol.)
± % (Ω) with Temperature Coefficient ppm/K
Mnemonics
 Each color corresponds to a certain number:
Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
There are several mnemonics for this.

  • Bright Boys Rave Over Young Girls But Veto Getting Wed


  • Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West


  • Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts, But Vodka Goes Well


  • Bad Boys Ravish Only Young Girls, But Violet Gives Willingly


  • Black Bears Run Over Yellow Grass, But Vultures Glide over Water


  • Big Bears Run Over Your Gladiola Bed Vexing Gliarden Worms


  • Black Bugs Race Over Yellow Grass, Beside Violent Grey Water


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