Pick the colours of the bands to read the resistance, tolerance and temperature coefficient, or type a value and see which bands to look for.
Number of bands
Resistor value and bands
1. Digit 1Yellow
2. Digit 2Violet
3. MultiplierRed
4. ToleranceGold
4.7 kΩ ±5 %
The real resistance lies between 4.465 kΩ and 4.935 kΩ.
This is a standard value in both the E12 and E24 series.
The colour table (IEC 60062)
Colour
Digit
Multiplier
Tolerance
ppm/K
Black
0
×1
–
250
Brown
1
×10
±1 %
100
Red
2
×100
±2 %
50
Orange
3
×1,000
±0.05 %
15
Yellow
4
×10,000
±0.02 %
25
Green
5
×100,000
±0.5 %
20
Blue
6
×1,000,000
±0.25 %
10
Violet
7
×10,000,000
±0.1 %
5
Grey
8
×100,000,000
±0.01 %
1
White
9
×1,000,000,000
–
–
Gold
–
×0.1
±5 %
–
Silver
–
×0.01
±10 %
–
How to use it
Choose colour bands to value and set each band from the left, or value to colour bands and type a resistance such as 4.7k.
Choose 4, 5 or 6 bands. Read the resistor with the tolerance band (gold or silver, set a little apart) on the right.
Every colour is written out as well as shown, so the page does not depend on telling the swatches apart.
The address bar holds the bands or the value, so a link brings the same resistor back.
How the code works
On a 4-band resistor the first two bands are digits, the third is the multiplier and the fourth is the tolerance. A 5-band resistor has three digits. A 6-band resistor adds a temperature coefficient in ppm per kelvin as the last band. Yellow, violet, red, gold reads 4, 7, ×100, ±5%: 4.7 kΩ.
The values come from IEC 60062. Gold and silver are multipliers (×0.1 and ×0.01) and tolerances (±5% and ±10%), never digits. A resistor with no tolerance band is ±20%.
Standard values
Resistors are made in preferred values, the E12 series for ±10% and E24 for ±5% (IEC 60063). The page names the nearest E12 and E24 value, which is the one to buy when a calculation gives an in-between number. For an LED, see the LED series resistor; for two resistors sharing a voltage, the voltage divider.
Copy the code into your page where the calculator should appear. It loads from lovetocalc.com, so it stays current on its own — all we ask is that the credit line comes with it.