LABIANO, CHRISTIAN MARK P.

BS CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 3A
EE 141

1. What are resistors?

Resistors are common elements of electrical networks and electronic circuits
and are ubiquitous in electronic equipment. Practical resistors as discrete
components can be composed of various compounds and forms. Resistors are
also implemented within integrated circuits.
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements
electrical resistance as a circuit element. Resistors may be used to reduce
current flow, and, at the same time, may act to lower voltage levels within
circuits. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to limit current flow, to adjust
signal levels, bias active elements, and terminate transmission lines among
other uses. High-power resistors, that can dissipate many watts of electrical
power as heat, may be used as part of motor controls, in power distribution
systems, or as test loads for generators. Fixed resistors have resistances that
only change slightly with temperature, time or operating voltage. Variable
resistors can be used to adjust circuit elements (such as a volume control or a
lamp dimmer), or as sensing devices for heat, light, humidity, force, or chemical
activity.

2. Purpose of resistors in a circuit

The main function of resistors in a circuit is to control the flow of current to
other components. Take an LED (light) for example. If too much current flows
through an LED it is destroyed. So a resistor is used to limit the current.
The principal job of a resistor within an electrical or electronic circuit is to
resist (hence the name Resistor), regulate or to set the flow of electrons
(current) through them by using the type of conductive material from which they
are composed. Resistors can also be connected together in various series and
parallel combinations to form resistor networks which can act as voltage
droppers, voltage dividers or current limiters within a circuit.
Resistors are what are called Passive Devices, that is they contain no
source of power or amplification but only attenuate or reduce the voltage or
current signal passing through them. This attenuation results in electrical energy
being lost in the form of heat as the resistor resists the flow of electrons through
it.
3. Types of resistors:
Fixed resistor:

Carbon composition: These types were once very common, but are now
seldom used. They are formed by mixing carbon granules with a binder which
was then made into a small rod. This type of resistor was large by today's
standards and suffered from a large negative temperature coefficient. The
resistors also suffered from a large and erratic irreversible changes in
resistance as a result of heat or age. In addition to this the granular nature of
LABIANO, CHRISTIAN MARK P. BS CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 3A
EE 141

the carbon and binder lead to high levels of noise being generated when
current flowed.

Carbon film: This resistor type is formed by "cracking" a hydrocarbon onto

a ceramic former. The resulting deposited film had its resistance set by
cutting a helix into the film. This made these resistors highly inductive and of
little use for many RF applications. They exhibited a temperature coefficient
of between -100 and -900 ppm / Celcius. The carbon film is protected either
by a conformal epoxy coating or a ceramic tube.

Metal oxide film: This type of resistor is now one of the most widely used
form of resistor along with the metal film type. Rather than using a carbon
film, this resistor type uses a metal oxide film deposited on a ceramic rod.
Metals oxide such as tin oxide are deposited onto the ceramic rod. The
resistance of the component is adjusted in two ways. First the thickness of
the deposited layer is controlled during the initial manufacturing stages. Then
it can be more accurately adjusted by cutting a helical grove in the film.
Again the film is protected using a conformal epoxy coating. This type of
resistor has a temperature coefficient of around 15 parts per million / K,
giving it a far superior performance to that of any carbon based resistor.
Additionally this type of resistor can be supplied to a much closer tolerance,
5%, 2% being standard, and with 1% versions available. They also
exhibit a much lower noise level than carbon types of resistor.

Metal film: The metal film resistors is very similar to the metal oxide film
resistor in terms of visual appearance and performance. Instead of using a
metal oxide film, this type of resistor uses a metal film. Metals such as nickel
alloy may be used.

Wire wound: This resistor type is generally reserved for high power
applications. These resistors are made by winding wire with a higher than
normal resistance (resistance wire) on a former. The more expensive varieties
are wound on a ceramic former and they may be covered by a vitreous or
silicone enamel. This resistor type is suited to high powers and exhibits a high
level of reliability at high powers along with a comparatively low level of
temperature coefficient, although this will depend on a number of factors
including the former, wire used, etc..

Thin film: Thin film technology is used for most of the surface mount types
of resistor. As these are used in their billions these days, this makes this form
of resistor technology one of the most widely used.

Leaded and non-leaded resistor:

Leaded resistors: This type of resistor has been used since the very first
electronic components have been in use. Typically components were
connected to terminal posts of one form or another and leads from the
resistor element were needed. As time progressed, printed circuit boards
LABIANO, CHRISTIAN MARK P. BS CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 3A
EE 141

were used, and the leads were inserted through holes in the boards and
typically soldered on the reverse side where the tracks were to be found.

Surface mount resistors: These resistor types have been used

increasingly since the introduction of surface mount technology. Typically this
type of resistor is manufactured using thin film technology. A full range of
values can be obtained.

4. Measuring resistor values

The most common and simplest way to measure resistance is with a digital
multimeter. Resistor color code indicates the value of the resistor marked on the
body using colors.
Here is the table with the colors and numbers. As you can see they are:

BLACK: 0

BROWN: 1

RED: 2

ORANGE: 3

YELLOW: 4

GREEN: 5

BLUE: 6

VIOLET: 7

GREY: 8

WHITE: 9

But this is not for all colors. From right to left the second color is multiplier. Digits
from the first colors must be multiplied with the number of this color.

BLACK: 1

BROWN: 10

RED: 100

ORANGE: 1000

YELLOW: 10000
LABIANO, CHRISTIAN MARK P. BS CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 3A
EE 141

GREEN: 100000

BLUE: 1000000

GOLD: 0.1

SILVER: 0.01

And the last color: This is tolerance. Tolerance is the precision of the resistor and it
is given as a percentage. For example a 390 resistor with a tolerance of 10% will
have a value within 10% of 390, between 390 - 39 = 351 and 390 + 39 = 429 (39 is
10% of 390).

BROWN: 1%

RED: 2%

GOLD: 5%

SILVER: 10%

NOTHING: 20%