ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING WORKSHOP LABORATORY MANUAL

4-band resistors

5-band resistors

6-band resistors

Colour Ist Digit IInd Digit IIIrd Digit Multiplier Tolerance TCR
Black 0 0 0 1
Brown 1 1 1 10 1% 100 ppm/K
Red 2 2 2 100 2% 50 ppm/K
Orange 3 3 3 1K 15 ppm/K
Yellow 4 4 4 10K 25 ppm/K
Green 5 5 5 100K 0.50%
Blue 6 6 6 1M 0.25%
Violet 7 7 7 10M 0.01%
Grey 8 8 8 100M
White 9 9 9 1000M
Gold 5%
Silver 10%
No Colour 20%

SMD Resistor code

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 ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING WORKSHOP LABORATORY MANUAL

EXPERIMENT NO. 2

IDENTIFICATION OF PASSIVE COMPONENTS AND COLOUR CODING

Aim
To familiarize with the different passive components and their colour coding.
Components Required
Different types of passive components
Instrument Required

Multimeter
Theory
Passive components are the components, they themselves are not capable of processing an electrical sig-
nal such as amplification, oscillation, modulation etc. Passive components do not require a source of energy to
perform their intended functions. The behavior of passive components is linear.

Examples: Resistor, capacitor, inductor and transformer.

Colour Code for Resistors
Resistance is measured in Ohms. The symbol for Ohm is Ω. Larger resistors have printed resistance values,
while smaller resistors have colour-coded bands. The correspondence between the digits and the colours of the
bands is named resistor colour code. This code is used to determine the value of a resistor or indicate its values by
using a colour code. To determine the resistance of a colour-coded resistor, start from the end opposite the silver
or gold band. Use the colour code chart shown in table to determine the resistance values. There are three types of
resistors depending on the number of bands: 4-band, 5-band and 6-band resistors.

4-band Resistors
In 4-band resistors, the first two bands identify the first and second digits of the resistance value, and the
third band indicates the number of zeroes. The fourth determines the tolerance of the resistor that indicates the
deviation that a resistor may vary from its nominal value.

5-band Resistors
In 5-band resistors, the first three bands identify the first, second and third digits of the resistance value,
and the fourth band indicates the number of zeroes. The fifth band determines the tolerance of the resistor.

6-band Resistors
In 6-band resistors, the first three bands identify the first, second and third digits of the resistance value,
and the fourth band indicates the number of zeroes. The fifth band determines the tolerance of the resistor and
the sixth band indicates the TCR. (Temperature Co-efficient of Resistance).

SMD Resistor Code

SMD Resistor stands for Surface Mount device Resistor. These are marked with three (3) or four (4) digit
codes which is called SMD Resistor codes to indicate their resistance values.
3 Digit Code
The first, two digits indicates the first and second digits of the resistance value, and the third digit indicates
the number of zeroes. The letter “R” is used for Decimal Point “.” i.e. 1.1 Ω = 1R1 Ω. Resistances below 10 ohms do
not have a multiplier.

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Determine the value of the carbon resistors

IIIrd Band Colour code Measured

Sl No. Ist Band IInd Band Multiplier Tolerance
value value
(if any)

10

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4 Digit Code
The first, three digits indicates the first, second and third digits of the resistance value, and the fourth digit
indicates the number of zeroes.

Available Resistance Values

The value of resistors are derived from the standard set of two digit base numbers. Values are derived by
assigning sufficient number of zeros or decimal points to these numbers: 10, 12, 15, 18, 22, 27, 39, 47, 56, 68 and
82.

Procedure
1. Hold the resistors so that the colour bands are at the left end of the resistor. Write down the numeric value of
the first two colour bands.

2. Read the numeric value of third colour band and write down those many number of zeros at the right side of
the first two numeric. This gives the value of resistor in Ω.

3. Measure the resistance using multimeter. Compare the theoretical value with this practical value. Repeat the
procedure for 10 resistors.

Colour Code for Capacitors

Capacitance is the ability to store electrical energy. Capacitance is measured in Farad and the unit is F.
Different marking schemes are used for electrolytic and non-electrolytic capacitors. In electrolytic capacitors,
the values are printed directly on the component.

Non-polarised capacitors ( < 1µF)

Small value capacitors have their values printed but without a multiplier. For example 0.1 means 0.1µF =
100nF. Sometimes the unit is placed in between 2 digits indicating a decimal point. For example: 4n7 means
4.7nF.
Numerical Coding
In a small value capacitors like mica capacitors, value of capacitor will be written on it in a coded form. The
method of reading the value is explained below:

1. If the number written on the capacitor is greater than one, the value will be in pF. Otherwise, it will be in μF.
For example, 10 means 10 pF and 0.1 means 0.1 μF.

2. If there are three digits in the number, the third number indicates the number of zeros to be put after first two
digits and the value will be in pF. 104 means 10,0000 pF or 0.1 μF.
3. If the letter k follows the digits, the value will be in kpF (kilo pico farad). 10k means 10 kpF or 0.01 μF.

4. If the letter is ‘n’ or ’M’ the value will be that much nano farads or micro farads respectively. 47n means 47
nF and 47M means 47 μF.

5. If the letter n, M or k is between two numerals, the value of the capacitor can be obtained by putting a deci-
mal in place of the letter and multiplying by the factor nF, μF or kpF respectively. 4k7 means 4.7 kpF and 2M2
means 2.2 μF.

6. If the letters k or M follows the three digit number, it implies the tolerance value 10% and 20% re-
spectively.

Capacitor Colour Coding

Sometimes capacitors just show bands like resistors when printing is tough on them. The colours
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Capacitor Colour Coding

Colour Ist Digit IInd Digit Multiplier Tolerance Voltage

Black 0 0 1 20%
Brown 1 1 10 100V
Red 2 2 100 250V
Orange 3 3 1K
Yellow 4 4 10K 400V
Green 5 5 100K 5%
Blue 6 6 1M
Violet 7 7 10M
Grey 8 8 0.01
White 9 9 0.1 10%

Capacitor Numerical Coding

Determine the value of the ceramic capacitors

Sl No. Code Number Actual Value

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should be read like the resistor code, the top three colour bands giving the value in pF. The 4th band and
5th band are for tolerance and voltage rating respectively. For example: brown, black, orange means
10000pF = 10nF = 0.01µF.
Result
Studied about different passive components and their colour coding.

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