This chapter is about resistors, the most basic electric component.
5.2 Resistor
Resistors are the most fundamental and commonly used of all the electronic components.
Having two terminals, this component opposes current flow. This opposition is called electric resistance, measured in Ohms, and is represented by the Greek letter omega (Ω) in the SI.
5.3 Electric Resistance
All materials offer, to a certain degree, resistance to the flow of electrons. Metals, for example, offer very little electric resistance, but the resistance is there and it is not 0.
Factors like surface area, thickness, and chemical properties can alter electric resistance, and by manipulating these characteristics correctly, several types of resistors can be created.
5.4 Symbols
There are two different symbols to represent a resistor in schematics, one in the American standard and the other in the international standard. Figure 5.1 shows both symbols.
Figure 5.1 Resistor symbol (US and international standard).
Figure 5.2 shows a picture of real resistors where color stripes describing their resistance values and other characteristics can be seen around their bodies.
5.5 Types of Resistor
There are ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month, and much more.
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
