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When Should I Use A Resistor

Resistors are usually added to circuits where they complement active components like op-amps, microcontrollers, and other integrated circuits. Commonly resistors are used to limit current, divide voltages, and pull-up I/O lines.

To my knowledge, a resistor is the part of almost every electronic circuit. You will probably see any circuit without it. It is used for, current limiting, voltage division, feedback, pulling up or down floating voltages, gain control, and terminating loads. In the rest of the post, I give more info about the mentioned applications.

And lastly, selecting a resistor based on these two values. This is where you will use Ohm’s Law to calculate your resistance. You can use one of the standard formulas below when your voltage (V) and current (I) are known. Next, you need to figure out how much power your resistor is going to need to dissipate.

Therefore, in order to give the LED its needed requirements, but also use a pre-existing supply voltage in your circuit, you need a resistor in series with the LED. The resistor will drop the excess voltage between your voltage source and LED.

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How do I know when to use a resistor?

Dividing voltage: You can also use resistors to reduce voltage to a level that’s appropriate for specific parts of your circuit. For example, suppose your circuit is powered by a 3 V battery but a part of your circuit needs 1.5 V. You could use two resistors of equal value to split this voltage in half, yielding 1.5 V.

Why do I need a resistor?

In an electronic circuit, the basic function of a resistor is to limit the current to a safe value so that the associated sophisticated parts can function properly. Here R is the constant of proportionality and is known as the resistance of the resistor.

What are 3 purposes of a resistor?

Resistors are used for many purposes. A few examples include limiting electric current, voltage division, heat generation, matching and loading circuits, gain control, and setting time constants.

How do you know when to use a resistor in a circuit?

A resistor drops a certain voltage across it when a specific current flows through it (Read up on Ohm’s Law…). If you need to drop a specific voltage with a specific known current, or if you need to cause a specific current to flow with a fixed voltage, then you use a resistor for that job.

When should resistors be used?

Resistors ensure components receive the proper voltage by creating a voltage drop, and they can protect a component from voltage spikes. Each component in an electrical circuit, like a light or a switch, requires a specific voltage.

What can be used as a resistor?

All electrically conductive materials are somewhat resistive, too. Because of this, even a good electrical conductor, such as metal wire, can be used as a resistor. Resistance can be adjusted by limiting how thick the wire is, and by increasing or decreasing the conductive path through the wire.

What materials could be used as a resistor in a circuit?

Yes, the pencil that we use in our day-to-day activities can be used as a resistor in electrical networks. As compared to other types of resistors this resistor also offers resistance to the flow of electricity through it.

What can be used to replace resistor?

A good conductor, such as metal wire, can be used as a Resistor. Resistance can be adjusted by limiting the thickness of the wire or decreasing the path through it.

How do you make a homemade resistor?

Instead of ordering and wanting for a resistor with a value you need you can change the resistance of a resistor by using another resistor or many. By installing resistors in a parallel or series circuit you can change the value in Ohms. Parts: You will need a few resistors.

Can I replace the resistor with another?

Appliances such as electric heaters, electric ovens, and toasters all use resistors to turn current into heat, then using the heat lost from this resistor to warm the surrounding area.

Where can we find resistors at home?

Appliances such as electric heaters, electric ovens, and toasters all use resistors to turn current into heat, then using the heat lost from this resistor to warm the surrounding area.

What can I use in place of a resistor?

Explained another way: an electrical circuit that has a difference of 2 volts, with 1 Ampere of current flowing through it, has a resistance of 2 Ohms. All electrically conductive materials are somewhat resistive, too. Because of this, even a good electrical conductor, such as metal wire, can be used as a resistor.

More Answers On When Should I Use A Resistor

Resistors Guide: Definition, What They Do, And How To Use Them

Most rules of thumb suggest you use at least a safety factor of 2 or more, which means you pick a resistor with at least double the maximum power dissipation than what it will experience in the circuit. However, this isn’t always 100% safe. Many circuits don’t have much power dissipated in its resistors, but some do.

Why do we use resistors? [The real quick reasons]

A resistor is used in feedback circuits to reduce the high gain to certain safe limits. Pulling up or Down Floating voltages Resistors are used as pul up or down to ensure no floating pin left there in a microcontroller or any digital logic device. The floating is a very common phenomenon in microcontrollers when a pin is left opened or unused.

What is Resistor, Basics, Uses of Different Types of Resistors

1. Current Limiting: As seen above, resistors can be used to limit the current that flows into a device. 2. Voltage dividers: This makes use of two resistors to divide a voltage by the ratio of their resistances. This is my favorite image to show people when they ask about voltage dividers:

should i use a resistor? – General Electronics – Arduino Forum

You can try a ~200 Ohm resistor in series and that will protect your Arduino from over-current. You’ll just have to see if it’s loud enough with the resistor (or if it makes any sound at all). If it needs more than 40mA, you’ll need a transistor or MOSFET to “boost” the current.

batteries – Should I use a resistor in this scenario? – Electrical …

Add a comment 1 Answer Sorted by: 2 Yes – you need a resistor. Your understanding of batteries is wrong. If that is an AA Alkaline or carbon-zinc battery it will start with Vout ~= 1.5V BUT this will fall to about 1.0V across the lifetime of the battery.

How to Choose the Right Resistor – Fusion 360 Blog

Aug 14, 2020Here are some other cool applications that the versatile resistor is used for: Measuring electrical current – You can measure the voltage drop across a precision resistor that has a known resistance when it’s connected to a circuit. This is calculated using Ohm’s Law.

How To Use Resistors In A Guitar & Cool Tricks – Fralin Pickups

A Resistor is “Resisting” the flow of electricity, so, when you pull up, instead of sending 50% of the Humbucker to ground, it will only send, say, 33% of it. This allows you to have a stronger single-coil tone when pulled up. FAKING OUT YOUR SINGLE COILS WITH RESISTORS: Alright “faking out” seems a little vindictive.

Why do LEDs need resistors? – Electronic Guidebook

Nov 20, 2021The higher its resistance, less current is allowed to flow, and the lower its resistance, more current is allowed to flow. So, the main reason LEDs use a resistor is to limit the amount of current to a value that is in the range of its forward current ratings, and not higher. Resistors will protect the LED from damage.

Should I use a resistor, or diodes to lower the voltage?

Should I use a regular resistor, or follow this video I found: I am more … Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts

Do push buttons need resistors? – Electronic Guidebook

Jan 8, 2021Resistors are used to hold the microcontroller’s digital pin in a defined state (0 or 1) depending on the configuration and prevent it from floating. There are two typical configurations when using a resistor and push button; Pull-up and Pull-Down as seen in the diagram below. Push button and resistor in Pull-Up configuration

Resistor Vs. Non-Resistor Spark Plugs: Which Is Better?

Aug 30, 2021A resistor wire is made for radio suppression of the noise. The resistor plugs will raise the voltage that is needed so that the gap can be jumped. So you will raise the amount of energy that is imparted in the spark. So using a resistor plug can raise the voltage to the point that it can already create an insulation failure in the older coils.

Should I use resistor between relay and solenoid valve?

Mar 3, 2021Now I connected diode in place of valve Arduino – Relay module -> 1k resistor -> diode. However, when I measure current with multimeter before the resistor (output from relay), it is around 50 mA. Since I’m relatively new to this, I guess current depends on a consumer? Led diode didn’t pulled more than 50 mA. And for valve it should be around …

Choosing the Resistor to Use With LEDs : 3 Steps – Instructables

Here are some typical values, but use your own values to be sure you don’t burn out your LEDs!: Red LED: 2V 15mA Green LED: 2.1V 20mA Blue LED: 3.2V 25mA While LED: 3.2V 25mA Okay, lets get started! * Batteries in series. Introduction photo credits: LED photo by Luisanto. Resistor photo by oskay.

A Guide To Resistors For Guitar Pedal Building – DIY Effects Pedals

Resistors are passive electrical components that alter the flow of electrical current by adding resistance to the circuit. They have fixed values and have many purposes but are most commonly used to delimit electrical currents. WHAT ARE RESISTORS MADE OF? Modern through hole axial resistors are generally made of one of three compositions.

Why do we need a resistor with an LED?

When hooking up an LED, you are always supposed to use a current-limiting resistor to protect the LED from the full voltage. If you hook the LED up directly to the 5 volts without a resistor, the LED will be over-driven, it will be very bright for a while, and then it will burn out. Likewise, what resistor should I use with my LED? Basics …

Resistor vs. Non-Resistor Plugs | Adventure Rider

A: NGK “R” or resistor spark plugs use a 5k ohm ceramic resistor in the spark plug to suppress ignition noise generated during sparking. NGK strongly recommends using resistor spark plugs in any vehicle that uses on-board computer systems to monitor or control engine performance. This is because resistor spark plugs reduce electromagnetic …

How To Add A Resistor To A Speaker To Change Impedance

Oct 20, 2020To work with the higher output of amps and receivers, you’ll need to use power resistors when working with speakers. A power resistor is just a larger-size resistor that can handle a lot more power & heat than the small ones commonly used on electronic boards.

Types of Resistors and How To Choose One

A resistor network is especially handy when building an audio mixer, for example, because each input typically has both a potentiometer (to adjust level) and a fixed resistor (for isolation, or to set a maximum input, I guess) for each input.

What resistor should I use?

A resistor would drop 12-5 = 7 volts. 7 volts at 0.5 amp is 14 ohms. But power dissipation is 3.5 watts, so you need a 5 or 10 watt resistor. A linear regular like a 7805 with a small heat sink will also work.

How to Reduce Voltage with Resistors – Learning about Electronics

Let’s do one more example. Say if you have the same circuit above with 5V but only want 1V. If we use a 10KΩ as our R1 resistor, plugging in the values, we get R2= (V)(R1)/(VIN – V)= (1V)(10KΩ)/(5V – 1V)= 2.5KΩ. So we can use a 2.5KΩ resistor as our R2 resistor with the R1 resistor being 10KΩ.. So it’s easy to see now how any voltage can be obtained with a resistor voltage divider circuit.

Where should I use resistor in this ? | All About Circuits

Where should I use resistor in this ? I want to why? Can I remove them?

voltage – What Resistor Should I Use? – Electrical Engineering Stack …

I have an 18V battery and a 12V bulb and I want to reduce the voltage with resistors. I have already used a transistor (L7812CV) which works fine but now I want to know how to do it with a resistor…

{solved} which resistor should i use? | Forum for Electronics

ok guys need little bit more help, i am trying to drive 2 fan from a scart output in a satellite box, problem 1: i know the pin 8 should read max 12v, but i am reading constant 15.99v(should be 0v when the box stendby) problem 2: i have 2 fan(12v 0.13 amp) which i want to drive from pin 8…

photoresistor – What resistor should I use when using a photo-resistor …

Aug 25, 2021That said, if I make the assumption that you want to distinguish between daylight and darkness and you want to connect the LDR voltage divider to an ADC input on your Arduino that has the same range as your power supply (usually 5V or 3.3V), you could build the following voltage divider using your LDR and a 10k Ohm resistor (R1, your “fixed …

What resistor should I use? | Candle Power Forums

If you are using a Luxeon Star (white) you can get away with using only. a single resistor to drive that LED from the USB port, of value 4.7 ohms, rated at 1 watt (can also use two 10 ohm 1/2 watt resistors in parallel). The difference in current draw is about 60ma more for the resistor than. for a down converter with efficiency about 80 percent.

Should I use 500E 5W resistor ? | Forum for Electronics

Should the 500E resistor in this circuit be 5W type ? It is a battery charger circuit. 500E is used to trickle charge. 0.3E I have used 5W. 4A will flow to charge a 12V 6Ah battery. Should the 500E also be 5W because it is only used for trickle charging.

Why do we use resistors? [The real quick reasons]

A resistor voltage divider is a simple circuit which divides the high input voltage into a small fraction i.e. from 12V to 5V or 12V to 6V etc. You can power up all your circuit components with different voltage and current ratings from a single power supply using resistor voltage divider circuits.

should I be using a resistor or not? (yes) – Raspberry Pi Forums

Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:17 pm. that isn’t a good way to do it, as the GPIO signal probably doesn’t go low enough when you close the switch. With the switch closed a resistor divider is created that divides the 3.3V up to something like 0.85Volt. The problem is that the PI probably won’t see 0.85V as a proper “low”.

arduino – Why use a resistor for Pull-Up? – Electrical Engineering …

2. You have to use a resistor so the pushbutton can overpower it. If you use a piece of wire, you get a short between Vcc and GND when you push the button – not so good for the button or the rest of the board. Using a resistor holds the pin at a specific level until something ’stronger’ (lower resistance) comes along and changes it (in this …

How To Use Resistors In A Guitar & Cool Tricks – Fralin Pickups

Let’s explain this using a simple formula. When you use two resistors in Parallel, one side of each resistor connects to the same location. For example, your Volume Pot is a resistor: 250K, 500K, these are resistance values. One side of the pot is a “hot,” or “input,” and one side of the pot is Ground. If you attach a resistor from …

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