
Potentiometers usually consist of 3 terminals (2 terminals connected by a fixedd resistance and 1 "wiper" terminal whose resistance varies with position). A Rheostat is created when the "wiper" terminal is shorted to one of the fixed terminals.
Part numbers are usually represented in one of two ways.
- The value is printed directly on the package such as 10K.
- The value is printed using values from the Standard Color Code such as 103 which is 10K.