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Pre-lab work
1. After reading the experiment calculate the value of the following resistance

2. find the capacitance of the capacitor with code “203”.

1. Be familiar with the basic electrical components ‘resistors, capacitors, and

inductors’.
2. Differentiate between the basic electrical components.
3. How to read electrical components using different methods.

1- Resistors:

Resistance “R” is an electrical value with unit ‘ohm’ and symbolized as ‘Ω’,
there is one ohm ‘1Ω’ of resistance when one ampere ‘1A’ of current flows in
a material with one volt ‘1V’ of potential difference applied to it’s terminal.

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resistor can be classified as:

a) Fixed Resistors:
Fixed resistors are available with large selection of ohmic values that are
set during manufacturing, and can’t be changed, these resistors are
constructed with different methods and material, some of them are the
carbon composition type, carbon layers, oxide layers and metallic.

The most common type is the carbon composition type, which is made with a
mixture of finely ground carbon, insulating filler and resin binder, the ratio of
carbon to insulating filler sets the resistance value, the mixture is made into rods,
and lead connections are made, then the entire resistor is then encapsulated in an
insulated coating for protection.
The advantages of this type are:
o Mechanically and electrically robust.
o Tolerate high voltage.
o Have no self induction.
Where their disadvantages are:
o They have high noise.
o The ohmic values decrease with increasing frequency.
o Contain an internal capacitance.

This type of resistors has the shape in the figure below

Figure 2.1 resistor

The value of this type of resistors is not written on them, but numbers of
colors are appeared on them, these colors are used to find their values.
Resistors are characterized by the colors and the number of colors on them,
they may have four or five colors, each color area is called band, and each
color has numerical value as appeared in the table below:

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Table 2.1 Resistor Color Codes

value multiplier Tolerance

Black 0 0 -
Brown 1 1 ±1%
Red 2 2 ±2%
Orange 3 3 ±0.05%
Yellow 4 4 -
Green 5 5 ±0.5%
Blue 6 6 ±0.25%
Violet 7 7 ±0.1%
Gray 8 8 -
White 9 9 -
Gold - -1 ±5%
Silver - -2 ±10%
None - - ±20%

First, we must hold the resistor in a correct way, to do that, hold the resistor so
that the nearest band to the edge of the resistor is directed to your left hand, or
hold the resistor so that the band has the widest gap is directed to your right
hand.
Then, we can determine the value of the resistor as explained in the figure
below:

Figure 2.2 resistor color

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Examples: Green, blue, red, with silver tolerance band:

Four band code: Five
56 band
x 100code:
= 5.6 k ohms, with a tolerance of 10% .

Blue, brown, white, brown, red tolerance band:

619 x 10 = 6190 ohms (6.19K ohms), with a tolerance
of 2% .

b) Variable Resistors:

Variable resistors are different type of resistors that their values are not fixed but are
changed manually or automatically; there are two basic types of variable resistors:

a) Potentiometer: which is three terminals as shown in the figure below:

Figure 2.3 : potentiometer

The resistance between the terminals a, b is fixed which is the maximum

allowed resistance value of the potentiometer,
terminal c is connected to a moving contact (wiper), resistance
value between the two terminals pairs a, c and b, c can be easily

changed by moving the wiper on the potentiometer, the sum of the

resistances on the two parts a, c and b, c equals the total resistance of the
potentiometer which is between the two terminals a, b.

b) Rheostat:
Is a two terminal variable resistor which is shown in the figure below:
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Figure 2.4: Rheostat

Second classification for the resistors are according the maximum

power that the resistor can deal without damaging, carbon composition
resistors com in various power rating of 1/8, ¼, ½, 1, 2 watt, where
other types of resistors come in high power rating according to it’s
fabrication, one type of these resistors are thermal-resistor, this type of
resistors have power rating up to 25 watt and more, and their resistance
values are written directly on them.
The figure below explains different shapes and sizes of the resistor
with the power rating for each.

Figure 2.5 power rating of

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2- Inductors:
Inductance “L” is an electrical value having the unit ‘Henry’ and
symbolized as ‘H’. the inductance of a fabricated inductor can be
calculated depends on the colors on it, same as resistor.
Some examples explain that in the figure below:

Figure 2.6 Inductor

Inductors and resistors normally have the same shape, we can differentiate
between them according the internal resistance of inductor is very small,
approximately less than 30Ω. After measuring the resistance using digital
multimeter, if the two reading are so far then the component is inductor, else it
is resistor.

3- Capacitor:
Capacitors store electric charge. They are used with resistors in timing
circuits because it takes time for a capacitor to charge.
A capacitance “C” is an electrical value with the unit ‘Farad’ and
symbolized as ‘F’.
Capacitors can be divided into:
a) Polarized Capacitors (large values, more than 1µF)
One type of polarized capacitors is electrolytic capacitors, they
must be connected the correct way round, at least one of their
leads will be marked + or -. They are not damaged by heat when
soldering. There are two designs of electrolytic capacitors; axial
where the leads are attached to each end, and radial where both
leads are at the same end.
Radial capacitors tend to be a little smaller. It is easy to find the

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value of electrolytic capacitors because they are clearly printed

with their capacitance and voltage rating.

Figure 2.7 (a) axial (b) radial (c) symbol

b) Un-polarized Capacitors (small values, less than 1µF)

They have high voltage rating at least 50V, usually 250V.

Figure 2.8 (a) example (b) symbol

Two different methods are used to find the capacitance value:

a) Letter code: many small value capacitors have their value
printed but without a multiplier, for example 0.1 means
0.1µF=100nF. Sometimes the multiplier is used in place of
the decimal point, for example 4n7 means 4.7nF.
b) Number code ‘three digits’: to read it, take the first two
digits as the first and second significant digits. The third is a
multiplier, and the result in pico-farad.
For examples:
o Capacitor with 104 code  10*10^4 pF=100nF
o Capacitor with 104J code  10*10^4 pF=100nF with
±5% error.
is shown in the table

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Table 2.2 Capacitor letter code

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:
For each resistor fill the following spaces:
Resistor number 1:
1. Color bands of the resistor:
2. Resistance value in ohm:
3. Percentage error of resistor:
4. Power of the resistor in watt:
5. Maximum voltage can be across resistor in volt:
6. Maximum current can pass through resistor in mA:

Resistor number 2:
1. Color band of the resistor:
2. Resistance value in ohm:
3. Percentage error of resistor:
4. Power of the resistor in watt:
5. Maximum voltage can be across resistor in volt:
6. Maximum current can pass through resistor in mA:

:
1. Color bands of the inductor:
2. inductance value in mH:
3. Percentage error of inductor:
:
For each capacitor fill the following spaces:
Capacitor number 1:
1. Type of the capacitor:
2. Code of the capacitor if exist:
3. Value of the capacitor:
4. Maximum voltage:

Capacitor number 2:
1. Type of the capacitor:
2. Code of the capacitor if exist:
3. Value of the capacitor:
4. Maximum voltage:

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References

1. http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/reference/chpt-
2/resistor-color-codes/
2. http://toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au/archive/tour/securi
ty/toolbox/hq/mag1/restrain.htm
3. http://how-
to.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_identify_inductor_markings

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