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Note that tolerance and uncertainty are different. Tolerance is a contract provided by the seller that a given resistor is within a specific range. Uncertainty is due to your imprecise measuring device (as they all are in practice).

You could take a 33k Ohm resister with 5% tolerance, and measure it at 33,100 +/- 200 Ohm. At that point, the tolerance provides no further value to you.




It’s not nearly that simple:) Component values change with environmental factors like temperature and humidity. Resistors that have a 1% rating don’t change as much over a range of temperatures as 5% or 10% components do. This is typically accomplished by making the 1% resistors using different materials and construction techniques than the lower tolerance parts. Just taking a single measurement is not enough.




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