Standard resistor values and color codes

Carbon resistors are the most frequently used in printed circuits and come in a limited selection of values. The tables below list those values that resistor manufacturers commonly provide. In this book, all circuits used in the laboratory exercises specify resistor values taken from this list.

For carbon resistors with tolerances of 2% or larger, the first three colors are used to determine the value of the resistor. The first two colors (Table H.1) indicate the first two digits and the third color (Table H.2) indicates a multiplier. The fourth color (Table H.3) indicates the resistor tolerance. Values of commonly available 2, 5, and 10% resistors and their first three color codes are listed in Table H.4.

For metal film resistors with tolerances of 1% or smaller, the first four colors are used to determine the value of the resistor. The first three colors indicate the first three digits and the fourth color indicates a multiplier. The fifth color indicates the resistor tolerance.

Silver is used to indicate a multiplier of 0.01. For resistor values below 10 ω, the values corresponding to 11, 13, 16, 20, 24, and 30 are not available.

Tolerances of 1% or better are available in metal film resistors.

Standard capacitor values and codes

Capacitors are manufactured in a number of types and are available in a limited selection of values. The tables below list values that capacitor manufacturers commonly provide.