PHYS 2212L - Principles of Physics Laboratory II
Nominal Resistance Supplement
The colored bands found on many resistors provide the approximate resistance value and tolerance for the resistor. The first two colored bands on a resistor give the first two digits in its nominal resistance. The third band gives the multiplier and the fourth provides the tolerance. For example, using the tables below, if the four bands of a resistor were yellow, violet, red and silver, the nominal resistance would be 47 x 102 W or 4700 W or 4.7 kW with a tolerance of 10%.
Table 1. Color codes for resistance value.
| color | color | number | multiplier |
| black | 0 | 100 | |
| brown | 1 | 101 | |
| red | 2 | 102 | |
| orange | 3 | 103 | |
| yellow | 4 | 104 | |
| green | 5 | 105 | |
| blue | 6 | 106 | |
| violet | 7 | 107 | |
| gray | 8 | 108 | |
| white | 9 | 109 |
Table 2. Tolerance values (%).
| color | color | tolerance (%) |
| gold | 5 | |
| silver | 10 | |
| colorless | 20 |
Last update: January 28, 1999