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What is Resistor and Resistance?

The resistor is an electronic component that opposes the flow of current in the circuit. Every electronic component has a limited current capacity. If the supplied current exceeds this limit, the chances of the component getting damage also increase. Hence we use a resistor to reduce the flow of current into the circuit. And this property of the material to resist the current is called Resistance. 

Usually, conductors have very low resistance and insulators have good resistance. In general, every material has resistance. 

Resistance is denoted by the unit of Ω (ohm). So just as 1km means 1000 meters in length, 1kΩ equals 1000Ω. 

Resistors are basically of two types: 

  1. Fixed resistor                                   2. Variable resistor. 
  1. Fixed resistors: This is one of the most commonly used types of resistors. As the name suggests, in this the value of the resistor will be fixed.

Every fixed resistor has different stripes painted on it. These color stripes are a code using which we can calculate the value of the resistor. Using the below color chart and the method is given, you can easily find the value of each resistor. 

  1. Variable resistor: Unlike fixed resistors, variable resistors do not have a fixed value. We can change the value of the resistance of the resistor by rotating the knob or sliding the slider. Â