Mnemonic for getting resistor colours in my thick head - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Quantumplate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 01:17:57 pm
content: Out of the Black hole (0)Came 1 Brown Earth.Roy G. Biv rubbed his 2 Red eyes,and saw 3 oranges & 4 bananas.He played 5-a-side on the Green pitchunder the 6lue skies and the 7 Violet rays.He h8ed Grey skies.The game was a Whitewash: they fell like Ninepins,So Roy won the Gold and they got Silver.

author: barshatriplee
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 01:22:34 pm
content: I only knew one."BB ROY Good Boy Very Good Worker."

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 02:28:33 pm
content: The version i was taught is very politically uncorrected as it mentions bad boys rapeing our young girls but violet going willingly

author: Quantumplate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 02:40:32 pm
content: Quote from: themadhippy on May 02, 2023, 02:28:33 pmYeah, i recently came across that hideous one. What idiot came up with that!?

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 02:57:40 pm
content: Since these mnemonics only provide colors order and not values, but the colors are in a common color progression, are they really helping? Is there any advantage in counting words compared to counting colors?██████████It’s just the pride flag, going to white, going to black.ChatGPT said: “Big Boys Rave Over Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly” and “Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well”.

author: wasedadoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 03:01:33 pm
content: Quote from: themadhippy on May 02, 2023, 02:28:33 pmThe version our Physics teacher uttered in the second half of the 1960s had the slightly different ending: "... virgins go without".

author: lycralout
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 03:42:09 pm
content: Bye Bye Rosie Off You Go, Birmingham Via Great Western

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 04:02:22 pm
content: When asked the same question, my undergraduate physics professor demurred since he had learned it in the US Navy.The worst one starts with "black" for black = 0, then proceeds to actual slurring and sexual assault.That one ends "but Violet gives willingly" for blue, violet, green, white (as in one cited above).

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 04:02:27 pm
content: Quote from: Quantumplate on May 02, 2023, 02:40:32 pmidiot? more like genius, the shock effect makes it stick

author: nali
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 04:19:33 pm
content: Quote from: wasedadoc on May 02, 2023, 03:01:33 pmOurs was Virgins Grow Wise. It also started off with illegitimate people of colour, which was a bit dodgy even in 1979.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 05:09:16 pm
content: Quoteyea thats the version i originally learnt,but it got cleaned up when i went to collage.

author: nali
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 05:12:32 pm
content: That WAS at college!!

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 05:31:47 pm
content: This is the magic of young age!There's protein (GPLD1) which presence greatly reduces with age, specially if you have a sedentary lifestyle, related to memory and learning.I could store in my head the TV circuit blocks in just few minutes, ask me now!I remember most of what I studied in my 20s, but anything later will wash out quickly if not used.The thing is you can simplybreakenter into a nerdy school andstealkindly get some gpld1-rich blood lol, seems to work right away, I wonder why it's not being mass-produced yet, replacing the usual almost-lethal doses of caffein.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2023, 08:07:03 pm
content: Quote from: Quantumplate on May 02, 2023, 01:17:57 pmI don't think I could memorise that in a month of Sundays!

author: Quantumplate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2023, 09:05:28 am
content: Quote from: Gyro on May 02, 2023, 08:07:03 pmHa ha! Oh well, i tried. You don't have to really remember it, just the general scene. In fact not even that. I've found that by going over it for a few days you make the link between the colours and numbers, which is all you want at the end of the day.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2023, 09:16:49 am
content: Quote from: Quantumplate on May 02, 2023, 02:40:32 pmDo not, whatever you do, execute a gurgle image search for "virgin pliers". Or look at the description/image inhttps://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/hellermann-ident-sleeve-pliers-497159321

author: gbaddeley
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2023, 09:35:09 am
content: Mnemonics become irrelevant if you just learn the Color patterns in the E12 or E24 series. Over time it sinks in and reading values becomes instantaneous. Sorting a few dozen random resistors into order is good practice.

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2023, 09:36:48 am
content: I don't see how this makes it easier to rememberThe colors simply go the same way as a rainbow and everyone already knows how the colors in a rainbow go. You just have to include infrared in the rainbow to get the brown(dull red on the edge of our vision spectrum) and black(invisible to our vision) in there. Then the gray and white is what you would see if you went shorter in wavelength to Xrays.For assigning numbers to them it is easier to just remember a few common values and work backwards from there. Like like 100E 150E 220E 330E 470E 1K 10K 100K 1MOver time i got so used to it that i can look at any common resistor and read its value in 1 second. However uncommon values might take me a good half minute to figure out, but i will eventually get there.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2023, 10:14:11 am
content: I, too, think I’d have more trouble remembering the mnemonic than the color code itself. After a bit of practice it becomes second nature. You really only need to memorize black, brown, red, gray, and white. The rest you can derive by counting up from red.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2023, 10:17:12 am
content: Quote from: gbaddeley on May 03, 2023, 09:35:09 amGood plan, actualy having a bunch of resistors in front of you helps a lot. Make your prediction and then confirm with your dmm. You only need the common multipliers too (10R-10M ranges). I still have to double check odball low value ones but that's so infrequent it's not a problem.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2023, 10:53:15 am
content: What idiot? I don't know, but I learned it in high school over 50 years ago. And it stuck!My wife didn't like it very much.Quote from: Quantumplate on May 02, 2023, 02:40:32 pm

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 04, 2023, 12:56:57 pm
content: Cable idents use the resistor colour code and are numbered, so just make yourself up a bracelet from some wire, with them on.

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 12:05:05 am
content: the oldest I remember:Better be right or your great big venture goes west.

author: gbaddeley
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 09:01:40 am
content: Re bracelet… great talking point and ice breaker, in the office, at parties, in the pub.

author: MrAl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 10:56:48 am
content: Quote from: Quantumplate on May 02, 2023, 01:17:57 pmHi,I could write you a program that you use maybe 15 minutes a day for a few days and you would learn them all.It's practice that leads to the memory, and also say each color out loud as you read it.Maybe we dont have to remember so many colors as there are color blends that are known too. Some wont be as good though.blackish-brown, red-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet, grayish-white, gold-and-silver.red-orange, yellow-green, and blue-violet are three actual common colors.Im sure we can come up with better ideas.

author: MrAl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 11:51:34 am
content: Here's one for example. It's not great but at least it is not politically charged (ha ha).(the) barbers bloodpressure rose over yesterdays golf blunder vaporizing gargantuan winsCan be easily modified such as by replacing 'barbers' with something else.If you don't like 'bloodpressure' (misspelling) just replace it with 'blood'.

author: CaptDon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 12:59:53 pm
content: Since this thread re-appeared I figured I would share a phrase. I think my Dad (from the U.S.) may have made this one up and he taught it to me when I was only about 6 and looking over his shoulder and asking questions about the electronics he was working on (Circa 1962 or so). "Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Ventures Go Wrong". I remember that phrase like it was yesterday. As far as keeping the order of black or brown correct I just remember BL comes before BR alphabetically. After so many years of being a service technician and design engineer I look at an old 3-band plus one tolerance band resistor and instictively know its value without even thinking about it. The newer 5-band precision stuff makes me stop and think. Cheers mates!! (Got to say "Violet Gives Willingly" is far more common among my mentors and peers)

author: Quantumplate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 01:32:25 pm
content: Quote from: MrAl on May 15, 2023, 10:56:48 amThanks for the offer! My 'mnemonic ' has served its purpose, despite no-one else appearing to like it...the idea wasn't to learn the words by rote, just visualise the story whilst reading it for a few days. I've found it has formed a link between the colours & numbers quite nicely.Quote from: MrAl on May 15, 2023, 11:51:34 amThat's funny!

author: MrAl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 07:47:56 pm
content: Quote from: Quantumplate on May 15, 2023, 01:32:25 pmHi,Yes a little funny. I bet there are a lot that can be written but it takes a little more thought to make some sense out of the sentence.We can calculate the number of possibilities based on the English language just to see how many variations are possible, even if they dont make any sense.

author: David_AVD
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 10:23:46 pm
content: I just learned the order of the colours when I was about 10 or 11 years old. No mnemonic to remember.

author: IDEngineer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2023, 02:58:52 pm
content: Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes Wrong.

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2023, 08:12:54 pm
content: Better Buy Resistors Or Your Great Big Venture Goes Westand always have a multimeter set to ohms on hand to double check them

author: MrAl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2023, 08:29:31 pm
content: Hi,Here's another mnemonic:"Buy Resistors That Have The Value Stamped Right On The Package".(ha ha)Many of the 1 percent types have the numbers stamped on the resistor rather than a color coding. So you might see 102, 103, like that. No colors to think about.

author: IDEngineer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2023, 08:40:25 pm
content: That works great until it doesn't. I've seen some very weird numbering schemes whose significant digits bore no relationship to the value. I presume they were SKU numbers unique to that manufacturer. Very frustrating.

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2023, 09:06:23 pm
content: 0603 SMD resistors seem to be half and half between having nothing on them, and having a numerical code based on the ValueValueMultiplier idea of coloured codes. Those numerical codes do vary by manufacturer though, often involving letters as if the values had become hexadeciaml or something. But an ohm-meter doesn't lie.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2023, 07:10:05 pm
content: The basic SMT code is easy. It's simply the first two or three digits followed by the number of zeros.The EIA code is more complicated.The first two digits correspond to the E96 value, in the table below:CodeValueCodeValueCodeValueCodeValue01 100 25 178 49 316 73 56202 102 26 182 50 324 74 57603 105 27 187 51 332 75 59004 107 28 191 52 340 76 60405 110 29 196 53 348 77 61906 113 30 200 54 357 78 63407 115 31 205 55 365 79 64908 118 32 210 56 374 80 66509 121 33 215 57 383 81 68110 124 34 221 58 392 82 69811 127 35 226 59 402 83 71512 130 36 232 60 412 84 73213 133 37 237 61 422 85 75014 137 38 243 62 432 86 76815 140 39 249 63 442 87 78716 143 40 255 64 453 88 80617 147 41 261 65 464 89 82518 150 42 267 66 475 90 84519 154 43 274 67 487 91 86620 158 44 280 68 499 92 88721 162 45 287 69 511 93 90922 165 46 294 70 523 94 93123 169 47 301 71 536 95 95324 174 48 309 72 549 96 976Followed by the multiplier, which is letter code.CodeMultiplerZ 1mY or R 10mX or S 100mA 1B or H 10C 100D 1kE 10kF 100kThe only solution to the above is a card, or just to Google it.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2023, 09:51:03 pm
content: Quote from: themadhippy on May 02, 2023, 02:28:33 pmThat was the one that finally worked for me too, except it wasn't bad boys, it was black boys, logical since black is the first color in the list. I think it was the fact that it is offensive and politically incorrect that made it stick in my head.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2023, 09:57:39 pm
content: I remember the rainbow part by "Richard Of York Gave Birth In Vitro"..... or did I mix up multiple mnemonics?

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2023, 10:21:24 pm
content: Similar to remembering the order of the planets.My very early model jaguar sometimes uses Neptune petrolOrMost volcanoes emit mulberry jam sandwiches under normal pressure

author: MrAl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2023, 03:00:09 am
content: Quote from: IDEngineer on May 16, 2023, 08:40:25 pmHi there,Oh yes i had some unusual problems come up too. You have to be very careful where you buy resistors from.I got one set that had steel leads instead of copper. Their operation in RF circuits could be questionable due to the effect of permeability on the skin effect.All i can recommend then is buy from a place where you can return them easily if you dont like something about them. That way if something unforeseen comes up you can always send them back and buy from a different place.I think most places will ship decent parts though.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2023, 04:59:55 am
content: Don't most components have steel leads? I don't recall ever noticing copper although maybe there's an alloy with a bit of copper in it.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2023, 07:47:30 am
content: Quote from: james_s on May 19, 2023, 04:59:55 amI remember in the early 70s some diodes similar to 1N4004 that had silver leads. When we trimmed the leads after soldering to a pcb we kept the ends for scrap value.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 19, 2023, 04:33:57 pm
content: My method:Colors are mostly from dark to light, so it starts with black, and ends with white, and (light) grey is also at the end.Brown Red Orange & Yellow grow progressively lighter and brighter.Green, Blue and Purple really do not matter much because The E-xx range is logarithmic and therefore those colors are hardly ever used.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2023, 02:43:39 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on May 18, 2023, 09:57:39 pmThe resistor colour code doesn't include indigo.Interestingly, I believe when the 7 colours of the rainbow were first documented, what we now called blue, would then have been known as cyan, the indigo being a truer blue in the modern sense.I just find the colours of the rainbow fairy easy to remember, given how the shades naturally fade into one another. It's the white, grey, silver and gold part of the colour code which took a bit more time to sink in, especially given the fractional multipliers and higher numbers are not used as often, as resistor values are a geometric progression i.e. E24: 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 43, 47, 51, 56, 62, 68, 75, 82, 91. Wow, I am sad, I even remember the E24 series off by heart.Actually that's not a bad idea. Familiarising oneself with E24 series and associated resistor colour codes does help.██ 10██11██12██13██15██16██18██ 20██22██24██27██ 30██33██36██39██43██47██51██56██62██68██75██82██91

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2023, 03:23:44 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on May 20, 2023, 02:43:39 pmThat depends on the language. In English we say the sky is blue and a sapphire is blue, although we do have the distinct words blue and azure/cyan, being akin to red and pink or purple and mauve. In some languages blue and azure are treated as differently as we treat red and pink. In some European languages the colour of the sky comes from the same root as azure. In some languages pink is just a kind of red. Then you have languages with a very weak concept of blue, largely bundling it with green. Colours and language is an interesting topic. People from different countries have basically the same sensory capabilities, but quite big differences in perception of a colour pallette, apparently driven by the languages they understand.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2023, 07:41:31 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on May 20, 2023, 03:23:44 pmIn technical usage (color printers, displays, and photography), the "B" in "RGB" for blue (transparencies and displays) is not the same color as the "C" in "CMYK" (printing) for cyan.RGB is the usual set of primary additive colors, while CMYK (including "K" = black) is the usual primary set for color inks.Cyan is a bit greenish compared with bluehttps://www.oleanderstudios.com/cyan-vs-blue-what-is-the-difference/

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2023, 08:33:37 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on May 20, 2023, 07:41:31 pmI used the word cyan, because Zero999 did. However, the real distinction in European, and some other, languages is blue versus azure. Azure is to blue as pink is to red, and mauve is to purple.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2023, 08:51:38 am
content: Quote from: coppice on May 20, 2023, 08:33:37 pmThat's the point I was trying to make, although I didn't word it very well. Colours depend on language, which changes over time. The English word for blue hundreds of years ago, probably referred to a different shade, than it does today. I've found where I read it, Wikipedia, so it might be wrong.Quotehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow?useskin=vector#Number_of_colours_in_a_spectrum_or_a_rainbow

author: Quantumplate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2023, 09:29:59 am
content: On the subject of colours i found this interesting paragraph in the Pioneer Tuning Fork series of servicing info regarding the NTSC system (Basic Theory of Video Systems):"Our eyes are sensitive to orange and cyan on small spots , but not so sensitive to magenta and green. When a coloured thing becomes small, its colour approaches orange or cyan. The colour becomes insensible when a coloured spot becomes small. So a wider frequency range (1.5MHz) has been allocated to the orange -cyan information than to green-magenta information (1.5MHz) in NTSC colour format."which is a bit puzzling as i thought our eyes were best at distinguishing shades of green...maybe they still are. Any colour experts out there?

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2023, 04:33:37 am
content: Zero999 mentionedEIA-96 resistor code. What’s the difference between Y and S, X and R, or B and H?

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2023, 03:56:34 pm
content: I still do not know the answer to the question above, but I have just learned the hard way about a possible explanation. Perhaps this is to avoid confusion: between ‘S’ and ‘5’, ‘B’ and ‘8’, and ‘R’ being already used in another SMD resistor marking format.If you ask, what I have done: looking at a resistor upside down I read it as “20R” (15.8 Ω). Seeing there is a short across it, I desoldered it and discarded.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2023, 05:36:22 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on June 02, 2023, 03:56:34 pmIt says R20, which is 0R2 or 0.2Ω.

author: JustMeHere
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2023, 01:26:51 am
content: Just switch to SMD. Seriously. If you want to get into EE so much you need to remember resistor colors, you should be using SMD. So much easier to work with that through hole.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2023, 02:18:38 am
content: Quote from: Zero999 on June 02, 2023, 05:36:22 pmYes, I know. I noticed the mistake as soon as I looked at its brother (oriented the right way) a few days later. But it was too late. I will not dive into dumpster to find two 1206s.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2023, 08:47:53 am
content: SMT resistors with values in milliohms often have confusing markings. Sometimes a letter such as M or L is used as the decimal, so 7M50 is 7.5mΩ, or the value is underlined, so015is 15mΩ.