Resistors, no matter chip ones or through-hole ones, are a fundamental component in electrical circuits. Early scientists came to understand the concept of resistance shortly after they were conducting tests to determine the results of passing electricity through all kind of materials and subsequently discovered electrical current. While copper, gold, and aluminum were found to be great conductors with low resistance, air, mica, and ceramics were considered resistors because of their ability to greatly limit the flow of electrical current.
Although people in the industry have been aware of their fundamental capabilities for decades, a reliable resistor as we know them today did not come about until 1961 a low-cost, reliable resistor is created that allowed a precise amount of electricity to pass to a component. With his breakthrough, resistors were less affected by extreme temperatures and shock, and it was finally possible to economically manufacture them. As the US military, IBM, and many consumer electronics manufactures start to use this new resistor, they began to be incorporated into everything from household appliances and computers to guided missiles. Resistors manufactures, such as Microhm Electronics, benefit from this innovation.
Resistors are ubiquitous in modern day electronics. As passive devices, they dissipate power but never provide power. They have many uses in circuits, such as for example regulating current flow to LEDs or controlling the amount of voltage reaching an active device such as a transistor.
Resistors can be used to terminate a transmission line and prevent reflections or as a pull-up or pull down resistor on the GPIO of a microcontroller to add stability to a system. Using a resistor and capacitor together can create a timing source necessary for light flashers or electronic siren circuits. A “daisy chain” of resistors connected in series can create a voltage divider useful for components that need to operate at a lesser voltage than that supplied by the input. Microhm Electronics provide broad range of resistors for engineers' options.
