27 kΩ resistor colour code
redvioletorangegold
27 kΩ ±5%
red violet orange gold — four bands, read from the end with the bands closest to it.
| Band 1 — first digit | red = 2 |
| Band 2 — second digit | violet = 7 |
| Band 3 — multiplier | orange × 1,000 |
| Band 4 — tolerance | gold ± 5% |
| Value | 27 kΩ |
| Acceptable range | 25.65 kΩ to 28.35 kΩ |
Reading it
The two digit bands give 27 and the multiplier band multiplies it by 1,000:
27 × 1,000 = 27 kΩ
Which end to start from is the part that catches people. The tolerance band is the one set slightly apart from the other three, and it is gold or silver far more often than not — neither of which is a digit colour, so a gold or silver band tells you which end you are at. Read from the opposite end.
What ±5% actually means
A 27 kΩ ±5% resistor is in specification anywhere from 25.65 kΩ to 28.35 kΩ. A meter reading of 25.65 kΩ on this part is not a fault and not a reason to replace it.
27 kΩ is one of the E24 values — the 24 steps per decade that ±5% resistors are made in. The steps are spaced so that the tolerance bands of neighbouring values just about touch: there is no gap between one value's range and the next, and no point making anything in between. It is the same reasoning that gives ±10% parts only 12 values per decade.
The same resistor with five bands
Precision resistors carry five bands: three digits, a multiplier and a tighter tolerance. The same 27 kΩ reads
redvioletblackredbrown
— red violet black red brown. The digits become 2, 7 and 0, and the multiplier drops one decade to red to compensate. The brown final band is ±1% rather than ±5%, which narrows the range to 26.73 kΩ–27.27 kΩ.
How much this one can take
A resistor's limit is heat, not voltage or current on their own: the power it turns into heat is V² ÷ R, so the same wattage allows very different numbers at 27 kΩ than it does at a value ten times away. This is the part of a colour code lookup people actually came for and charts leave out.
| Rating | Maximum current | Maximum voltage |
|---|---|---|
| ⅛ W | 2.2 mA | 58.1 V |
| ¼ W | 3 mA | 82.2 V |
| ½ W | 4.3 mA | 116.2 V |
| 1 W | 6.1 mA | 164.3 V |
The quarter-watt part is the one in everybody's drawer: at 27 kΩ it will carry 3 mA or stand 82.2 V across it, and not both at once — those are the same limit expressed two ways.
27 kΩ is a ±10% value too
27 kΩ is one of the twelve E12 values as well as one of the twenty-four E24 ones, which means it is made at ±10% and ±5% both. In practice that makes it easier to find and cheaper: E12 values are what a beginner's assortment box contains, and a shop that stocks one range stocks this value.
The nearest E12 value is 27 kΩ — this one.
The same resistor as a surface-mount marking
Surface-mount resistors have no room for bands, so they carry printed digits instead — and 273 is what 27 kΩ looks like on one. The scheme is the colour code with the colours replaced by the digits they stood for: two significant figures and a count of zeros.
| Marking | Used on | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
273 | Three-digit, ±5% parts | 27 followed by 3 zeros |
2702 | Four-digit, ±1% parts | 270 followed by 2 zeros |
A four-digit marking is not a different system, only a more precise one: it carries three significant figures instead of two and takes one off the zero count, which is why 273 and 2702 are the same 27 kΩ. If a board has both on it, the four-digit parts are the ±1% ones.
Very small ±1% parts use a third scheme, EIA-96, where two digits index a table of values and a letter gives the multiplier — 01C rather than 1002. It only covers the E96 series, so it has no marking for most of the E24 values on this site, and a marking with a letter in the middle is never one of these codes.
Where 27 kΩ turns up
Tens of kilohms is the range for biasing, for the feedback around an op-amp, and for pull-ups where current draw matters more than noise immunity — a battery-powered design pulls up with 47 kΩ where a mains-powered one uses 4.7 kΩ.
Frequently asked questions
What is the colour code for a 27 kΩ resistor?
red violet orange gold on a four-band resistor: red for 2, violet for 7, orange for a multiplier of ×1,000, and gold for ±5%.
What resistor is red violet orange gold?
27 kΩ, ±5%. The first two bands are the digits 2 and 7, the third multiplies by 1,000, and the gold band is the tolerance.
What is the tolerance range of a 27 kΩ ±5% resistor?
25.65 kΩ to 28.35 kΩ. A resistor measuring anywhere in that range is within specification, which is why a meter reading of 25.65 kΩ on a 27 kΩ part is not a fault.
What is the five-band code for 27 kΩ?
red violet black red brown — three digit bands (2, 7, 0), then red as the multiplier and brown for ±1%. Five-band resistors carry an extra significant figure, so the third digit is the zero that a four-band code leaves to the multiplier.
Nearby values
- 30 kΩ resistor colour code — orange black orange gold
- 33 kΩ resistor colour code — orange orange orange gold
- 36 kΩ resistor colour code — orange blue orange gold
- 39 kΩ resistor colour code — orange white orange gold
- 43 kΩ resistor colour code — yellow orange orange gold
- 47 kΩ resistor colour code — yellow violet orange gold
- 51 kΩ resistor colour code — green brown orange gold
- 56 kΩ resistor colour code — green blue orange gold
- 62 kΩ resistor colour code — blue red orange gold
- 68 kΩ resistor colour code — blue grey orange gold