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Resistor Color Code Chart and Resistance Calculator

Resistors have standard colors for identification of the resistance value. In order, the colors are: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, gray, and white. Reading resistors is a very simple procedure if you use the chart and formula below.

Hold the resistor with the gold or silver band to the right and read the resistor from the left to the right.

COLOR 1st DIGIT 2nd DIGIT MULTIPLIER TOLERANCE
Black 0 0 1 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Brown 1 1 10 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Red 2 2 100 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Orange 3 3 1,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Yellow 4 4 10,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Green 5 5 100,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Blue 6 6 1,000,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Violet 7 7 10,000,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
Gray 8 8 100,000,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%
White 9 9 1,000,000,000 Silver +/-10%; Gold +/-5%

Resistance is calculated this way:

Resistance = (1st Digit x 10 + 2nd Digit) x Multiplier

Resistor

Example: This resistor, read from left to right, has the colored bands of RED, VIOLET, YELLOW, SILVER.

Using the formula and chart above, the resistance would be:

R = 1st Digit x 10 + 2nd Digit) x Multiplier
R = (RED X 10 + VIOLET) x YELLOW
R = (2 x 10 + 7) x 10,000
R = 27 x 10,000
R = 270,000 ohm (270 K ohms)

Since the final band is silver, the tolerance is 10%.