Electronics Tools
Mobile friendly electronics tools and reference materials.
Voltage Divider
Input
Output
About Output Voltage
A simple, dirty way to get a lower voltage is to use a voltage divider - putting two (or more!) resistors in series and tapping the voltage between them. If you know the value of the resistors and voltage input, you can calculate the output voltage. If the resistors are the same value, then you’ll get half the input voltage. Otherwise, the math is going to be slightly more complicated but you won’t have any issues - just use the equation above and then use this fancy tool to double-check your work! Or just use the tool, we’re cool with that, too.
Input
Output
About Resistors
When making a voltage divider, sometimes you want to know what resistors to use to achieve your desired output. With this tool, we’ll help you find that faster and more easily! However, there are two things to consider, which directly affect each other. First, voltage dividers can be inaccurate if you have a low impedance load as that load is going to change everything! That low impedance load’s effect can be reduced by decreasing the value of the voltage divider resistors but that’s the second problem - you’re going to waste a lot of power through those resistors. It’s a balance between how stable your voltage is and how much power you waste. Frankly, there are usually better ways to do this. But, with high impedance loads or when you’re in a pinch, this works!
Get the latest tools and tutorials, fresh from the toaster.
