CIRCUITS 1: LAB EXPERIMENT #5 Page 1 of 2

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT #5 RESISTOR

COLOR CODES AND MEASUREMENT

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the exercise, the students should be able to:
 Know how to read resistor color codes
 be familiar with the characteristics of resistors
 know how to measure resistance using a multimeter

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT:

1 multimeter
1 breadboard
10pcs color coded resistors (assorted values and wattage)

PRINCIPLES:
A resistor is an electronic component that has a certain specified opposition to current flow
or resistance. The other types of components also have resistance, but the resistor is
designed to specifically introduce a desired amount of opposition to current. The electrical
resistance of a material is probably caused by the atomic obstructions that the electrons
encounter as they drift through the material. Metals that have a high number of electrons
and offer little opposition to current flow are good conductors. Non-metals have few free
electrons and tend to halt the drift of electrons through them. Such materials are called
insulators. Since no material is a perfect conductor, all have electrical resistance to some
extent. Those materials with low electrical resistance are good conductors, and those with
high electrical resistance are good insulators.

Resistance is measured across the load. The load must be removed from the circuit or the
voltage source(s) must be first disconnected. The resistance is expressed in the unit of
ohms, named after George Simon Ohm (1789-1854) and symbolized by the Greek letter
omega (Ω).

Most resistors, especially carbon composition resistors have their color codes. Color codes
are used to distinguish the resistance value of a resistor. You can compute for the value of
resistance using a table. To compute for the resistance, there are four stripes of colors
visible within a resistor. Colors are designated as shown in the figure.

The first end stripe is for the first number of resistance value; the second stripe is for the
second number of resistance value; the third stripe is the multiplier of the first two
numbers; and the fourth stripe is the tolerance. The actual resistance of a given resistor can
actually range in between the rated values, depending on the given tolerance.

CIRCUITS 1: LAB EXPERIMENT #5 Page 2 of 2

PROCEDURES:
NOTE: Please observe safety precautions and proper handling while conducting the
laboratory experiment. This experiment is to be performed under an instructor’s
supervision.

1. Collect 10 pieces of resistors with different values and record the

color codes of each resistor in Table 1.
2. Record the resistors’ value and tolerances by reading their color
codes. Write the results in Table 1.
3. Measure the actual resistance of each resistor using a
multimeter (refer to Figure on the right). Record the results in
Table 1.

Table 1

Color Code = no. of

Resistors resistance value Actual Tolerance Measured %
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Value Value Error

R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
R9
 R10

4. Compute the percentage error of the measured value and the actual value in
Table 1.

OBSERVATIONS:

CONCLUSION: