Silver band on a resistor
On a resistor, a silver band at the end is a tolerance of ±10%. As the third band of four it is the multiplier ×0.01, for values under 1 ohm.
Easily confused with
How to read it
In the IEC 60062 color code silver is not a digit. As the tolerance band it is ±10%, TT Electronics’ tolerance letter K, and as the multiplier it is ×0.01. Panasonic says a gold or silver band is a tolerance and is the last band. Southern Illinois University’s worksheet describes a silver tolerance band as a 10% tolerance range, and TE Connectivity’s example of a 270 kΩ resistor with a silver band falls between 243 kΩ and 297 kΩ. The University of Texas at Dallas lab manual puts the silver multiplier as “divide previous numbers by 100”.
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This explains what a resistor’s markings mean. Marking schemes vary between makers and series, and the part’s own datasheet takes precedence. It is not a guide to building or repairing electronics.
Look-alikes
Gray is the digit 8 and the multiplier ×100,000,000. Gold is ±5% and ×0.1.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codes4-band resistor color codeFour bands: the first two are digits, the third is the multiplier (how many zeros follow) and the fourth, set apart from the others, is the tolerance. Brown, green, red, gold is 1,500 ohms (1.5 kΩ) ±5%.
- The same shape in Smoke and CO alarm soundsLow-frequency 520 Hz alarm (sleeping rooms)A fire alarm in a sleeping room that sounds a low buzz in place of a high-pitched beep. It is the three-beep fire alarm rhythm at 520 Hz, which NFPA 72 requires of alarms provided to wake people in sleeping areas.
More resistor color codes
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers or lines.
Sources
- Surface Mount Resistor Marking, Document number 20020 (revision 25 May 2010), Vishay Draloric (Vishay Intertechnology), Color code table
- Technical Note TN004: Methods for Marking Values on Resistors, TN004 (09.24), TT Electronics, Colour code table
- Resistor Color Codes: Thorough Explanations of How to Interpret, Calculate, and Remember Them!, Technical article (24 October 2025), Panasonic Industry, §2 color-to-value chart; §3 orientation
- III. Standard Resistor Color Code, EEL 3123 Linear Circuits II Lab Manual, Appendix III (revised March 2023), University of Central Florida, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Table A – 1 Electronic Color Code
- Appendix B: Color Code for Composite Carbon Resistors, EE 1202 lab manual, Appendix B, The University of Texas at Dallas, Tolerance; values under 10 Ω
- Resistor Color Codes: What Do the Color Bands Mean?, Resistors resource page, TE Connectivity, 5-band resistors
- Resistor Color Code Worksheet, Web150 course worksheet, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, School of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, Worksheet text
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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