We just got the Arduino Uno starter kit. I think the resistors that came with it are 1/4w, but not sure? Are they 1/4w or 1/2w ?
Thank You in Advance!
How big are they? 1/2W are pretty good size.
More than likely they are 1/4W, or 1/8W if they look smaller.
Power dissipated in a resistor is P=V^2/R
So at 5V, a 1K resistor dissipates 55/1000 = 0.025W, well under what an 1/8 (0.125) W resistor can handle.
Even a 220 ohm current limit resistor with a red LED - if the LED has a Vf of 2.2V, then there is up to 2.8V across the resistor,
so 2.82.8/220 = 0.035W
So 1/2W resistors are not too likely in the kit. Besides being larger, they also have thicker leads and do not fit in a protoboard as well.
Good to know that the 1/2w leads don't fit well into breadboards.
I think I'll get 1/4w resistors.
Thank you very much!
1/8W resistors are tiny, smaller than an uncooked grain of rice. If your eyesight is less than perfect, you'll need a magnifying glass to read the colour code on them! For that reason, I prefer 1/6W resistors. Small enough to fit in tight spaces but large enough to easily read the colour code.