6 band resistor calculator
| Colour | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 0 | ×1 | — |
| Brown | 1 | ×10 | ±1% |
| Red | 2 | ×100 | ±2% |
| Orange | 3 | ×1k | — |
| Yellow | 4 | ×10k | — |
| Green | 5 | ×100k | ±0.5% |
| Blue | 6 | ×1M | ±0.25% |
| Violet | 7 | ×10M | ±0.1% |
| Grey | 8 | ×100M | ±0.05% |
| White | 9 | ×1G | — |
| Gold | — | ×0.1 | ±5% |
| Silver | — | ×0.01 | ±10% |
A six-band resistor is a five-band one with a temperature coefficient added. The sixth band gives drift in parts per million per degree Celsius — brown is 100 ppm, red 50, orange 15, blue 10. A 10 kΩ part at 50 ppm shifts 5 Ω over a 10 degree change.
How to read a 6 band resistor
Temperature coefficient matters far more often than people expect, because in a precision circuit it can dwarf the initial tolerance. A 0.1% resistor with a 100 ppm coefficient drifts by 0.1% over a ten-degree change, doubling its error before anything else has happened. That is why reference dividers and current shunts specify low-ppm parts, and why matched pairs on the same substrate are used where the ratio matters more than the absolute value — both resistors then drift together and the ratio holds.
Questions
Temperature coefficient in ppm per degree Celsius. Brown is 100, red 50, orange 15, yellow 25, blue 10, violet 5.