1. What is a potentiometer and what is it used for?

These are resistors where the resistor value can be controlled by a knob. These are commonly used to control electrical devices such as volume controls on audio equipment.

2. What is the difference between a potentiometer and rheostat?

A potmeter is a three terminal variable resistor, but a rheostat is a two terminal variable resistor. Rheostats are commonly used to handle higher voltages and currents. These are often used to vary voltage, as it acts like a voltage divider circuit while rheostat is mainly used to vary current.

3. Where can I buy potentiometers online?

These can be bought from online electronic components stores such as Robocraze

4. Where can I buy potentiometers at a shop near me?

These are available in almost all electronics hardware stores and electronic components shops.

5. How to choose the best potentiometers online?

Make sure the pot you get varies from 0 to the ohms you require it to be. For example, there’s 1k pot, 10k pot, 100k pot, higher the value, less the precision of the reading

6. What are the types of potentiometers?

These are of two types. The difference between the two is purely mechanical construction of the device.Linear - Consist of a slide to vary resistance.Rotary - Consist of a knob that varies resistance

Potentiometers – Variable Resistors for Electronics

Potentiometer Wiring Diagram

Potentiometer Arduino UNO -------------- ----------- Pin 1 (A) ─────── 5V Pin 2 (Wiper) ─────── A0 (Analog input) Pin 3 (B) ─────── GND

Turn the knob to change the voltage at the wiper pin (A0). The Arduino reads this as a value from 0–1023.

For controlling modules like motor drivers or LED dimmers, you often read the analog value and convert it to PWM output:

// Simple Arduino example int potPin = A0; int pwmPin = 9; void setup() { pinMode(pwmPin, OUTPUT); } void loop() { int val = analogRead(potPin); // 0–1023 int pwm = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 255); analogWrite(pwmPin, pwm); // control motor speed or LED brightness }

Types of Potentiometers

Type	Form Factor	Resistance Range	Typical Use
Rotary Potentiometer	Round shaft / knob	1 kΩ – 1 MΩ	Volume control, brightness control, general analog input
Trimpot / Trimmer Pot	Small PCB mount, screwdriver adjustment	500 Ω – 1 MΩ	Calibration, fine tuning on PCBs
Slide Potentiometer	Linear slider	1 kΩ – 100 kΩ	Mixers, faders, UI sliders, robotics control
Multi-turn Potentiometer	Worm gear / multi-rotation	1 kΩ – 1 MΩ	Precision adjustment, lab equipment
Digital Potentiometer (IC)	Chip controlled via I²C/SPI	Typically fixed ranges (e.g., 10 kΩ, 50 kΩ)	MCU-controlled gain, volume, calibration without mechanical knobs

Item Name	Price Inc. GST (As of 28 September 2022)
1M Cermet(Pack of 5)	18
500K Cermet(Pack of 5)	19
200K Cermet(Pack of 5)	20
50K Cermet(Pack of 5)	19
20K Cermet(Pack of 5)	18
5K Cermet(Pack of 5)	18
2K Cermet(Pack of 5)	17
500E Cermet(Pack of 5)	16
1M ohm 16mm Rotary Pot Variable Potentiometer (Pack of 5)	66
250K ohm 16mm Rotary Pot Variable Potentiometer (Pack of 5)	68
470K 16mm Rotary Pot(Pack of 5)	77
100K 16mm Rotary Pot(Pack of 5)	77
47K 16mm Rotary Pot(Pack of 5)	72
22K 16mm Rotary Pot(Pack of 5)	71
10K 16mm Rotary Pot(Pack of 5)	76
5K ohm 16mm Rotatory Variable Potentiometer (Pack of 5)	67
1K ohm 16mm Rotatory Variable Potentiometer (Pack of 5)	68
1M 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	51
500K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	48
100K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	48
50K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	49
20K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	52
10K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	52
5K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	49
2K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	50
1K 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	51
200E 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	51
20E 3386P Trimpot(Pack of 5)	50
2M 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	64
1M 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	56
500K 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	51
200K 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	51
50K 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	56
20K 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	52
5K 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	52
2K 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	51
500E 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	49
200E 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	48
10E 3296W Trimpot(Pack of 5)	68
Digital Potentiometer Board Module	275
100 Ohm Trimpot Trimmer Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	61
100 Ohm Pot Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	49
100K Trimpot Trimmer Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	61
10K Trimpot Trimmer Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	61
1K Trimpot Trimmer Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	61
100K Pot Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	49
1K Pot Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	142
10K Pot Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	131
100 Ohm Preset Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	19
100K Preset Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	19
10K Preset Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	19
1K Preset Potentiometer - (Pack of 5)	19
10K Sliding Potentiometer	167
Potentiometer Knobs - (Pack of 10)	135
22k Potentiometer (10 pcs)	100

Item Name

Price Inc. GST (As of 28 September 2022)

1M Cermet(Pack of 5)

500K Cermet(Pack of 5)

200K Cermet(Pack of 5)

50K Cermet(Pack of 5)

20K Cermet(Pack of 5)

5K Cermet(Pack of 5)

2K Cermet(Pack of 5)

500E Cermet(Pack of 5)

1M ohm 16mm Rotary Pot Variable Potentiometer (Pack of 5)

250K ohm 16mm Rotary Pot Variable Potentiometer (Pack of 5)