Lesson1.
Component Basics
OBJECTIVES
1. Learning how to use breadboard
2. Learning basic knowledge of resistor
OVERVIEW
Welcome! This is a first lesson to learn about the breadboard and components that we will use in later
labs. At the beginning, we will introduce how a breadboard works. Before we construct the circuit on
a breadboard, we also need to know the basics of some electrical components and how they work.
Second, we will describe the method to identify resistor values through their color code. Next, we will
explain the meaning of the wattage of a resistor. This lab is not complex, but very important.
PROCEDURE
Part I: Breadboard Basics
Figure 1: Breadboard Layout
A breadboard is a commonly used tool for prototyping basic electronic circuits. Since a breadboard
does not require any soldering and are reusable, it is an ideal tool for electronics learners. The
breadboard has strips of metal underneath the board that connect to the holes on the top of the board.
The metal strips are laid out as shown in Figure 2. By simply inserting wire terminals (leads) into the
holes and following a schematic design, you can complete your circuit.
Hold out your breadboard horizontally. Rows of holes that in top two sections and bottom two
sections (between top blue line and top red line) are connected horizontally; rows of holes that in the
middle section (between top red line and bottom blue line) are connected vertically. There here is no
connection between top half of the board and bottom half, you will see a crease across the middle of
the breadboard.
Figure 2: Internal Connections of a Standard Breadboard
Please see the following layouts in Figure 3, where GREEN wire makes the loop from (-) to (+)
connected, but RED wire cannot form a loop as it has four open circuit points as indicated.
Figure 3: Illustrations of Electrical Connections on a Breadboard
Part II: Resistor
Resistors are crucially important components in electric circuit. A resistor consists of 2 terminals and
it is measured in resistance (the unit is in Ohms, denoted as Ω). A resistor also has rated power, or the
maximum power it can endure, which is measured in wattage (the unit is Watts, denoted as W).
In practice, a resistor has a nominal value and a measured value:
Nominal value: The ideal resistor value without concerning error.
Measured value: The practical resistor value measured using specific instruments
1. Identify a Resistor’s nominal value by reading its color code
Upon first use of a resistor, you will notice small colour bands across the component.
For 4-Band Resistors, the format is:
Value, Value, Multiplier, Tolerance
For 5-Band Resistors, the format is:
Value, Value, Value, Multiplier, Tolerance
A good rule of thumb to note is that the last two bands of a resistor are meant for the Multiplier and
Tolerance. Table 1 shows a lookup table of the resistor color code.
TABLE 1: Resistor Color Code Lookup Table
Colour Value Multiplier Tolerance
Black 0 ×100
Brown 1 ×101 ± 1%
Red 2 ×102 ± 2%
Orange 3 ×103
Yellow 4 ×104
Green 5 ×105 ± 0.5%
Blue 6 ×106 ± 0.25%
Violent 7 ×107 ± 0.10%
Grey 8 ×108 ± 0.05%
White 9 ×109
Gold ×10-1 ± 5%
Silver ×10-2 ± 10%
Consider the 4-Band resistor below, which has colour bands from left to right shown as ‘blue’, ‘grey’,
‘orange’, and ‘gold’, therefore from the resistor color code we can tell it has a nominal resistance of
68×103 ±5%, or 68kΩ±5%. This error percentage also suggests that its measured resistance should fall
in the range from 64.6 kΩ to 71.4 kΩ.
2. Rated power of a resistor
In most labs of this manual, we use resistors that have rated power of 1/4W except in Watt’s law we
use 3W resistor. The rated power of a resistor specifies the maximum power that it can withstand
before damaging. In practice, we usually keep resistors operate way below its rated power to keep safe
operation. In this manual, all circuits were designed to make sure resistors operate below 50% of its
rated power. A for a good habit, you should always pay attention to resistor wattage especially when
dealing with power consuming circuits. Resistors’ wattage cannot be directly interpreted from the
color code, but resistors with higher rated power will have bigger size which can be easily
distinguished.
EXERCISE
1. Please identify the value of each resistor below by using the colour table:
R1
R2
R3
R1 R2 R3
2. Given the figure below, the DMM has been set to “resistance measurement”. Can we
measure the value of the resistor?
