Resistor Types
Resistors are one of the most commonly used circuit components in electronic circuits. There are more than one Resistor Types. Some of them are wire wound resistors, thick film resistors, thin film resistors, metal film resistors, carbon film resistors.
Resistor Types – Wire Wound Resistors
Wire wound resistors, like all other resistors, are passive electronic components. As the name suggests, it consists of a wire wrapped around a conductive material and limiting the electric current. It is also recognised as the oldest resistance in history. It is also possible to obtain precise values due to its production method.
Wire wound resistors can be examined in two different types. These are Precision wirewound resistors and Power wirewound resistors. For more detailed information about wire wound resistor types you can read the following articles.
What is a Wirewound Resistor?
Resistor Types – Thin Film Resistors
Resistors produced with thin film technology have a superior technology than the carbon resistors used in previous times. Today, they can be considered as the most widely used electronic components in electronic circuits. The most common types are thick film and thin film resistors.
Resistor Types – Metal Film Resistors
As the name implies, metal film resistors are manufactured using a thin metal contained in a ceramic structure.
Resistors manufactured with metal film technology are generally used where more sensitive resistors are required.
Resistor Symbols
In drawings such as schematics or block diagrams, resistors are usually represented by a zig-zag symbol or a rectangular box with connection pins on either side.
Carbon Film Resistors
The values of resistors of the Carbon Film Resistor type are generally constant.
Their production costs are low and their tolerances can be considered better than other resistors. Generally, the noise levels they emit are lower. Therefore, they can be more advantageous in applications such as radar.
Other types of resistor
When examining resistor types, they can be divided into two different main groups. These are fixed value resistors and variable value resistors. Most of the resistors mentioned above are fixed value resistors. However, there are also resistors whose value can vary depending on special situations.
For these special cases, we can give examples of resistors whose value changes depending on the intensity of light (photoresistors), resistors whose value changes with temperature (thermistors), resistors whose resistance changes depending on the applied voltage (varistors).
Photoresistors
Photoresistors create a resistance value depending on the light intensity falling on them. Thus, they can be used just like an analog light sensor.
Thermistors
Thermistors create a resistance value depending on the temperature of their environment. This change can increase with the increase in temperature or vice versa.
Varistors
Varistors create a resistance value depending on the voltage applied to them. For this reason, they are generally used in circuits to protect against sudden fluctuations in input voltages.