Resistor and Capacitor Code | Tech

Published: 2018-12-04, Update: 2025-10-07, T.N.

This article explains how to read the values of resistors and capacitors, fundamental components in electronics.

Matsusada Precision offers a wide variety of power supply units, such as DC power supplies (programmable DC power supplies), high-voltage power supplies, and AC power supplies. Please inquire if you have any questions.

Click here to search our products.

How to Read a Resistor and Capacitor Code | Matsusada Precision

Resistor Color Codes

Reading Resistor Color Codes

An image of a resistor with five bands. It shows five band resistor color codes. — Five bands

Color	Black	Brown	Red	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Purple	Gray	White	Silver	Gold
Number	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	-	-
Numerical value	10⁰	10¹	10²	10³	10⁴	10⁵	10⁶	-	-	-	10^-2	10^-1
Tolerance	±20%	±1%	±2%	-	-	-	-				±10%	±5%

Carbon film resistor (with four bands)

This four bands is four, seven x ten squared and ±5%.

4700 Ω = 4.7 kΩ

Metal film resistor (with five bands)

This five bands is four, seven, zero x ten to the first power and ±1%.

4700 Ω = 4.7 kΩ

Surface Mount (Chip) Component Markings

Chip resistors

Chip resistors use alphanumeric codes on their surface to indicate their resistance value. The following is an example of the transformation rules. (It also has other particular markings or rules.)

[Example]

103 = 10 x 10³ = 10000 Ω (10 kΩ)
1003 = 100 x 10³ = 100000 Ω (100 kΩ)
R047 = Replacing the R with decimal point = 0.047 Ω (47 mΩ)
10L0 = Replacing the L with decimal point of mΩ = 10 mΩ

Chip capacitor

471 = 10 x 10¹ = 470 pF

Chip inductor (coil)

471 = 10 x 10¹ = 470 µH

Capacitor/Standard Resistance Value

The E series is a system of standardized "preferred values" for electronic components. These values are chosen so that the tolerance range of one component value nearly touches the tolerance range of the next, ensuring efficient coverage of the entire range.

E3	E6	E12	E24
+/- 40% tolerances	+/- 20% tolerances	+/- 40% tolerances	+/- 20% tolerances

1	1	1	1
1	1	1	1.1
1	1	1.2	1.2
1	1	1.2	1.3
1	1.5	1.5	1.5
1	1.5	1.5	1.6
1	1.5	1.8	1.8
1	1.5	1.8	2
2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2
2.2	2.2	2.2	2.4
2.2	2.2	2.7	2.7
2.2	2.2	2.7	3
2.2	3.3	3.3	3.3
2.2	3.3	3.3	3.6
2.2	3.3	3.9	3.9
2.2	3.3	3.9	4.3
4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7
4.7	4.7	4.7	5.1
4.7	4.7	5.6	5.6
4.7	4.7	5.6	6.2
4.7	6.8	6.8	6.8
4.7	6.8	6.8	7.5
4.7	6.8	8.2	8.2
4.7	6.8	8.2	9.1

E96
+/- 1% tolerances

1.00	1.62	2.61	4.22	6.81
1.02	1.65	2.67	4.32	6.98
1.05	1.69	2.74	4.42	7.15
1.07	1.74	2.80	4.53	7.32
1.10	1.78	2.87	4.64	7.50
1.13	1.82	2.94	4.75	7.68
1.15	1.87	3.01	4.87	7.87
1.18	1.91	3.09	4.99	8.06
1.21	1.96	3.16	5.11	8.25
1.24	2.00	3.24	5.23	8.45
1.27	2.05	3.32	5.36	8.66
1.30	2.10	3.40	5.49	8.87
1.33	2.15	3.48	5.62	9.09
1.37	2.21	3.57	5.76	9.31
1.40	2.26	3.65	5.90	9.53
1.43	2.32	3.74	6.04	9.76
1.47	2.37	3.8	6.19	-
1.50	2.43	3.92	6.34	-
1.54	2.49	4.02	6.49	-
1.58	2.55	4.12	6.65	-

The theoretical figure is represented by the geometric series.
How to calculate the common ratio of geometric series by regarding it as "a": : n = 1, 2 or more, and a

Capacitor Marking

Aluminum electrolytic capacitor

Withstand voltage used on this value or less. — The longer lead is the positive pole.

Ceramic and film capacitors

For many ceramic and film capacitors, the capacitance is marked using a three-digit code. The value is read in picofarads (pF).

Ceramic capacitor

Film capacitor

Reference

1 pF = 1 x 10^-12 F
1 μF = 1 x 10^-6 F

Decoding 3-Digit Component Codes

Marking	Capacitor	Resistance
106	10 μF	10 MΩ
105	1 μF	1 MΩ
104	0.1 μF	100 kΩ
103	0.01 μF	10 kΩ
102	1000 pF	1 kΩ
101	100 pF	100 Ω
100	10 pF	10 Ω

E series: The resistance does not always include all arbitrary values, and it is defined based on E series.

Rated voltage: Capacitors have the rated voltage, and in some cases, they are directly shown by 50 V or 100 V, and also marked by alphabetic character codes. For instance, 0E is 2.5 V.

Rated voltage [V]
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	J	K	P	V	W
0	1	1.25	1.6	2	2.5	3.15	4	5	6.3	8	1.8	3.5	4.5
1	10	12.5	16	20	25	31.5	40	50	63	80	18	35	45
2	100	125	160	200	250	315	400	500	630	800	180	350	450
3	1000	1250	1600	2000	2500	3150	4000	5000	6300	8000	1800	3500	4500