PRACTICAL GUIDES · Units and conversions

How to read four-band and five-band resistors

Find the reading direction, separate digits, multiplier and tolerance and check a worked 4.7 kΩ resistor example.

By Puffinmint · Updated November 9, 2026

Find the resistor’s reading direction

Inspect an unpowered component and identify the tolerance band, which is often separated from the others. Read from the opposite end. If spacing or colors are ambiguous, check the component documentation and measure its resistance.

Separate digits, multiplier and tolerance

Four bands represent two digits, a multiplier and tolerance. Five bands use three digits instead. Gold and silver can be fractional multipliers; the position of a color determines its role.

How to read four-band and five-band resistors

Input
Yellow, Violet, Red, Gold
Calculation steps
Choose and apply the method
Result
4700 Ω; 4465–4935 Ω

TRY THIS STEP

Resistor color code calculator

Work inside this guide: load an example, run the tool and edit the inputs to compare results. The second experiment tests a different case.

A reproducible example

Yellow, violet, red and gold give 47 multiplied by 100, or 4700 Ω, equivalent to 4.7 kΩ. A 5% tolerance amounts to 235 Ω, giving a nominal tolerance interval from 4465 to 4935 Ω.

Open tool

Switch from four bands to five

The second example uses brown, black, black, brown, brown: 100 × 10 = 1000 Ω, 1% tolerance and a 990–1010 Ω range. Check that the third digit appears only in five-band mode.

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Set your data

Number of bands

First digit

Second digit

Third digit

Multiplier

Tolerance

Four or five bands, with a nonzero first digit. No sixth band, SMD markings or voltage/current calculations.

Result

Enter your values to see the result.

Download result

Yellow, violet, red, gold: 4.7 kΩ

Yellow, violet, red and gold give 47 multiplied by 100, or 4700 Ω, equivalent to 4.7 kΩ. A 5% tolerance amounts to 235 Ω, giving a nominal tolerance interval from 4465 to 4935 Ω.

Usage scenario

Input: Yellow, Violet, Red, Gold
Result: $4465 Ω \leq R \leq 4935 Ω$

Calculation steps

Calculate nominal resistance
$47 \times 100 = 4700$
Calculate the tolerance margin
$4700 \times 0.05 = 235$
Subtract the margin for the minimum
$4700 - 235 = 4465$
Add the margin for the maximum
$4700 + 235 = 4935$

Band limits and in-circuit measurements

Component tolerance is different from the meter’s uncertainty. The calculator covers four and five bands, excluding sixth-band temperature coefficients and SMD markings. Measuring a resistor in circuit may include other electrical paths.

These are example inputs, rather than measurements of a real case. Results use the full tool’s calculation engine. Compare them with the worked steps in this guide, then tick the checks after reviewing.

I compared the tool’s result with the worked example.The second example uses brown, black, black, brown, brown: 100 × 10 = 1000 Ω, 1% tolerance and a 990–1010 Ω range. Check that the third digit appears only in five-band mode.

Method and limits
Parameter	Value
What are the limits of this tool?	Four or five bands, with a nonzero first digit. No sixth band, SMD markings or voltage/current calculations.
Processing and privacy	Inputs and results are processed in your browser and are not sent to the server. Aggregate statistics, when enabled, record only the tool and outcome, without the content.

Sources

SparkFun — Resistors

Continue with the tools

Resistor color code calculator