ASVAB · Components and Devices

A resistor has color bands: red, red, orange, gold. What is its resistance and tolerance?

Correct answer

22,000Ω (22kΩ) ± 5%

  1. A 22Ω ± 5%
  2. B 22,000Ω (22kΩ) ± 5%
  3. C 223Ω ± 5%
  4. D 2200Ω ± 10%

Why this is the answer

Resistor color code system: 4-band resistor — first two bands are digits, third band is multiplier (number of zeros), fourth band is tolerance. Color values: Black=0, Brown=1, Red=2, Orange=3, Yellow=4, Green=5, Blue=6, Violet=7, Grey=8, White=9. Tolerance: Gold=5%, Silver=10%, None=20%. For Red-Red-Orange-Gold: Red=2, Red=2 (two digits = 22), Orange=3 (multiplier = 10³ = 1000), so value = 22 × 1000 = 22,000Ω = 22kΩ. Tolerance Gold = ±5%, meaning actual value is between 20,900Ω and 23,100Ω. Mnemonic for color order: 'Bad Boys Race Our Young Girls But Violet Generally Wins.' Or 'Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West.' Memorize the order — heavily tested. Some examples: Brown-Black-Red-Gold = 1, 0, ×100, 5% = 1,000Ω = 1kΩ ± 5%; Yellow-Violet-Yellow-Gold = 4, 7, ×10,000, 5% = 470,000Ω = 470kΩ ± 5%; Brown-Black-Black-Gold = 1, 0, ×1, 5% = 10Ω ± 5%. 5-BAND resistors (precision): three digit bands, multiplier, tolerance. 6-BAND adds temperature coefficient. Modern surface-mount resistors use printed numbers (e.g., '472' means 47 × 10² = 4700Ω). ASVAB EI definitely tests color codes — practice converting between colors and values both ways. Standard resistor values follow the E-series (E12, E24, etc.) — not arbitrary numbers but standardized increments.
Source: ASVAB EI, Resistor Color Code

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