Resistors – Erica Synths EDU DIY Wavefolder Eurorack Module Kit User Manual
Page 30
RESISTORS
While a conductive wire is like a very big pipe where lots of water can pass through,
a
resistor is like a narrow pipe that restricts the amount of water that can flow
. The
narrowness of that pipe is equivalent to the resistance value, measured in ohms (
Ω
). The
higher that value, the tighter the pipe.
Resistors have two distinctive properties: linearity
and symmetry
. Linearity, in this context, means that for
a doubling in voltage, the current flowing will double as
well. Symmetry means that the direction of flow doesn’t
matter – resistors work the same either way.
On a real-life resistor, you’ll notice that its value is not
printed on the outside – like it is with other components.
Instead, it is indicated by colored stripes – along with
the resistor’s tolerance rating. In addition to that, the
resistor itself is also colored. Sometimes, depending on
who made the resistor, this will be an additional
tolerance indicator.
For the resistors in this kit, a yellow body tells you that
the actual resistance value might be ±5 % o
ff
. A dark
blue body indicates ±1 % tolerance. Some kits will also
contain light blue
± 0.1% resistors to avoid the need for
manual resistor matching.
While in the long run, learning all these color codes will
be quite helpful, you can also simply use a multimeter to
determine a resistor’s value.
For a detailed breakdown, look up There are also calculation tools
available.
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