Resistor values are marked with small colored stripes. The first two stripes represent numeric values and the third stripe is a multiplier. The fourth stripe gives you the resistor’s tolerance — that is, it tells you how close to the indicated value you can expect the resistance to actually be.
For example, a resistor with brown, black, orange, and gold stripes is a 10,000 whose actual resistance may vary by as much as 10%.
| Color | Digit | Multiplier (in Ohms) | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 0 | 1 | 20% |
| Brown | 1 | 10 | 1% |
| Red | 2 | 100 | 2% |
| Orange | 3 | 1 k | 3% |
| Yellow | 4 | 10 k | 4% |
| Green | 5 | 100 k | |
| Blue | 6 | 1 M | |
| Violet | 7 | 10 M | |
| Gray | 8 | 100 M | |
| White | 9 | 1,000 M | |
| Gold | 0.1 | 5% | |
| Silver | 0.01 | 10% |