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ELP 112
Electric Circuit I
FALL 2023 -24
Lab No. 1 Resistor Color Code Guide
Student Name :
ID :
Eng / Ahmed EL-Zoghby - Eng / Fatma Magdy
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Lab # 1: RESISTOR COLOR CODE GUIDE
OBJECTIVES:
1- To read and measure an unknown resistance.
BACKGROUND:
The general-purpose carbon film resistors which are used in electrical and electronic circuits are
marked using a four colored bands system. The 4th color band indicates the resistor’s tolerance
and is normally gold. This means that the resistor is within 5% plus or minus of the marked
value. A silver 4th color band indicates a 10% tolerance. The first three bands determine the
value of the resistor. The first two bands determine the value of the resistor and the third band
determines the multiplier for the first two digits. Simply stated, the value of the third band
determines the number of zeros to add to the first two color values.
Table 1:
Eng / Ahmed EL-Zoghby - Eng / Fatma Magdy
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Example 1:
Resistor color bands: yellow, purple, red
Resistor value= 47*10^2 ±20%
=4700 ±20% ohm
=4.7 ±20% k.ohm
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Resistor value in the region (4700 - 100 ∗ 4700) : (4700 + 100 ∗ 4700)
Resistor value = ( 3760 : 5640) ohm
Lab Examples:
Resistor Reading by color code
R1( green, Black, Red, Gold)
R2 (Red , Blue, Black, orange, Brown)
R3 (orange , Green, Black ,orange, Gold)
____________________________________________________________
Exercise 1 :
Using the color chart above, decode the value of the following resistors and
indicate the tolerance:
1. Brown, Black, Red, Gold. _____________________
2. Yellow Violet, Yellow, Gold. ______________________
3. Brown, Black, Green, Gold. ______________________
4. Blue, Grey, Black, Gold. ______________________
5. Orange, White, Orange, Gold. ______________________
Discussion:
1- If you want to maximize the value of two connected resistors, how should you connect
them?
Eng / Ahmed EL-Zoghby - Eng / Fatma Magdy
