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Resistor colors

Brown, black, red, gold is 1,000 Ω ±5%. Red, red, gold, gold is 2.2 Ω ±5%. A black first band stops.

Why this exists

A four-band value joins the first two digits and multiplies by the multiplier’s power of ten. 1 and 0 times 10 to the power 2 is 1,000.

A gold multiplier keeps one decimal place. 22 times 0.1 is 2.2, and a trailing zero is dropped.

  1. 01How to use it

    On 4 bands, choosing brown, black, red, and gold shows 1,000 Ω ±5%.

    Switching to 5 bands reveals the third band. Brown, black, black, red, brown is 10,000 Ω ±1%.

    Copy puts that one line on the clipboard. The painted bands match the chosen colors.

  2. 02What you get

    Brown, black, red, gold is 1,000 Ω ±5%.

    Red, red, gold, gold is 2.2 Ω ±5%. Green, blue, yellow, gold is 560,000 Ω ±5%.

    Yellow, violet, brown, silver is 470 Ω ±10%. The five-band brown, black, black, red, brown is 10,000 Ω ±1%.

    Enteredbrown · black · red · gold

    brown black red gold 1,000 Ω ±5%
    red red gold gold 2.2 Ω ±5%
    green blue yellow gold 560,000 Ω ±5%
    five-band brown black black red brown 10,000 Ω ±1%

  3. 03Worth knowing

    Black on the first band stops. Black on the second band is read as 0.

    Gold in a digit band stops. Gold is a multiplier or a tolerance.

    A white multiplier is 1,000,000,000. A blue multiplier is 1,000,000.

    Closing the tab clears the chosen colors. Nothing is sent to a server.

Questions

QWhat is brown, black, red, gold?
AIt is 1,000 Ω ±5%. Ten was multiplied by 100.
QWhich colors make 2.2 Ω?
ARed, red, gold, gold. 22 was multiplied by 0.1.
QWhat about five bands?
ABrown, black, black, red, brown is 10,000 Ω ±1%.
QWhat if the first band is black?
AIt stops. The first digit runs from 1 through 9.

How this page works it out

This page reads resistor color bands. Four bands are digit, digit, multiplier, and tolerance. Black is 0, brown is 1, red is 2, orange is 3, yellow is 4, green is 5, blue is 6, violet is 7, grey is 8, and white is 9. A red multiplier is 100, so brown black red is 10×100, which is 1,000 Ω. A gold tolerance is ±5%, so the result is 1,000 Ω ±5%.

A gold multiplier is 0.1 and a silver multiplier is 0.01. Red red gold is 22×0.1, which is 2.2 Ω, and a gold tolerance makes 2.2 Ω ±5%. A trailing zero is dropped. Green blue yellow gold is 56×10,000, which is 560,000 Ω ±5%. Yellow violet brown silver is 47×10, which is 470 Ω ±10%.

Five bands read one more digit. Brown black black red brown is 100×100, which is 10,000 Ω, and a brown tolerance is ±1%. A black first band stops. Gold and silver are not digit bands. A white multiplier is 1,000,000,000 and a blue multiplier is 1,000,000. The chosen colors are calculated only in this browser and are not sent to a server.

  • # resistor
  • # bands
  • # 1,000
  • # 2.2