Carbon resistors have at least four color bands. There may also be a fifth - a "temperature" band.
| color | 1st
band
(1st digit) |
2nd
band
(2nd digit) |
3rd
band
(multiplier) |
4th
band
(tolerance) |
| black | 0 | 0 | 100 = 1 | |
| brown | 1 | 1 | 101 | |
| red | 2 | 2 | 102 | |
| orange | 3 | 3 | 103 | |
| yellow | 4 | 4 | 104 | |
| green | 5 | 5 | 105 | |
| blue | 6 | 6 | 106 | |
| violet | 7 | 7 | 107 | |
| gray | 8 | 8 | 108 | |
| white | 9 | 9 | 109 | |
| gold | -- | -- | 10-1 | 5 % |
| silver | -- | -- | 10-2 | 10 % |
| none | -- | -- | -- | 20 % |
(blue = 6)
(brown = 1)
(red = 2)
(gold = 20 %)
Therefore, the resistor shown above has a value of 61 x 102 ohms, or 6.1 kohms, and a tolerance of 20 %.