Resistors in Practice: Color Codes and Power Ratings
A resistor is just a small part that slows down electric current. But a real resistor in your hand does not say "1000 ohm" in numbers — it says it in colored stripes. This lesson teaches you to read those stripes, to pick the right resistor from what shops actually sell, and to make sure a resistor will not overheat and burn. By the end you can walk into a shop in Bishkek or Osh, look at a bag of resistors, and know exactly what you are holding.
What you will be able to do
- Read a 4-band resistor and say its value in ohms and its tolerance.
- Understand tolerance — why a "1k" resistor is not exactly 1000 ohm, and when that matters.
- Know why you cannot buy every value, and use the E12 standard series to pick real parts.
- Combine resistors in series and parallel to reach values the shop does not stock.
- Calculate power ($P = I^2 R$) and choose a resistor big enough that it will not burn.
- Recognise a burned resistor, and know what potentiometers, LDRs and thermistors do.