Interactive Engineering Tool
Inductor Color Code Calculator
Calculate inductance (µH, mH), tolerance percentage, and nominal operating range for 4-band standard and 5-band precision axial inductors.
Nominal Inductance
100 µH
Tolerance: ±5%
Range: 95 µH – 105 µH
How Inductor Coding Works
Unlike resistors (measured in Ohms), axial inductor color bands represent values in Microhenries (µH):- Base Unit: Nominal value is always calculated in µH.
- Multiplier: Multiplies the two significant digits (e.g., Brown (1) + Black (0) × Brown (10) = 100 µH).
- Tolerance Band: Standard tolerance is typically Gold (±5%) or Silver (±10%).
- 5-Band Inductors: The first double-width silver band identifies military / RF specification.
Common Inductor Applications
- Power Supply Filtering: Smoothing ripple voltage after rectifiers.
- DC-DC Converters: Energy storage elements in buck and boost circuits.
- RF Chokes: Blocking high-frequency AC signals while allowing DC power to pass.
- LC Filters: Audio tone filters, crossover networks, and oscillators.
