What does a gold band mean on a resistor?

As the third band, gold means ×0.1. As the last band, gold means a tolerance of ±5%.

How do you read a 4-band resistor?

The first two bands are digits, the third is the multiplier, and the fourth is tolerance. Green-Blue-Red-Gold reads as 56 ×100 = 5,600 ohms, ±5%.

What is the difference between a 4-band and 5-band resistor?

A 5-band resistor adds a third digit band for higher precision, so the first three bands are digits, the fourth is the multiplier, and the fifth is tolerance, instead of two digits, one multiplier, and one tolerance band.

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Reference chart

Resistor color code chart

Green, Blue, Red, Gold reads as 5,600 ohms, ±5%. Colored bands exist because many resistors are too small to print text on, so the value is encoded in a standardized color sequence instead.

Read the bands from the end furthest from the tolerance band. On a 4-band resistor, the first two bands are significant digits, the third is a multiplier (how many zeros to add), and the fourth is tolerance. A 5-band resistor adds a third digit for extra precision, shifting the multiplier and tolerance bands one place over.

Digit value (1st, 2nd, and 3rd band)
Color	Digit
Black	0
Brown	1
Red	2
Orange	3
Yellow	4
Green	5
Blue	6
Violet	7
Gray	8
White	9

Multiplier band
Color	Multiplier
Black	×1
Brown	×10
Red	×100
Orange	×1,000
Yellow	×10,000
Green	×100,000
Blue	×1,000,000
Gold	×0.1
Silver	×0.01

Tolerance band (last band)
Color	Tolerance
Brown	±1%
Red	±2%
Green	±0.5%
Blue	±0.25%
Violet	±0.1%
Gray	±0.05%
Gold	±5%
Silver	±10%
(none)	±20%

Worked example. A 4-band resistor reading Green, Blue, Red, Gold: green = 5, blue = 6, red = ×100, so 56 × 100 = 5,600 ohms. Gold means ±5%, so the true value falls between 5,320 and 5,880 ohms.

Common questions

What does a gold band mean on a resistor?: As the third band, gold means ×0.1. As the last band, gold means a tolerance of ±5%.
How do you read a 4-band resistor?: The first two bands are digits, the third is the multiplier, and the fourth is tolerance. Green-Blue-Red-Gold reads as 56 ×100 = 5,600 ohms, ±5%.
What is the difference between a 4-band and 5-band resistor?: A 5-band resistor adds a third digit band for higher precision, so the first three bands are digits, the fourth is the multiplier, and the fifth is tolerance, instead of two digits, one multiplier, and one tolerance band.

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Resistor color code chart

Common questions

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