5K-Ohm pot vs 10K-Ohm pot

FrizzleFried

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Stupid question...

Can a 10K-ohm pot be used in place of a 5K-ohm pot or vice versa? If possible, I going from one to the other would affect the speed of which the resistance changes as you turn?
 
Generally speaking, it's a bad idea. But as always, more context is needed. What circuit are you modifying? Post some schematics. And yes, the rate of resistance change per degree of turn will be twice as big for the 10k pot.
 
Can a 10K-ohm pot be used in place of a 5K-ohm pot or vice versa? If possible, I going from one to the other would affect the speed of which the resistance changes as you turn?
Not necessarily. 5k ranges from 0-5000 ohms, 10k ranges from 0-10,000 ohms. Depends what you need for a maximum resistance. For example, at maximum-turn your volume might only go to halfway instead of totally silent. It will depend on the application.

What you may be asking for is a linear pot vs audio pot. Linear changes resistance straight from 0% to 100%. Audio is calibrated for volume so 50% sounds half as loud as 100%. These two kinds of pots would have the same max resistance, but they change at different rates when you spin the knob.
 
What you may be asking for is a linear pot vs audio pot. Linear changes resistance straight from 0% to 100%. Audio is calibrated for volume so 50% sounds half as loud as 100%. These two kinds of pots would have the same max resistance, but they change at different rates when you spin the knob.

this is totaly correct.
 
Stupid question...

Can a 10K-ohm pot be used in place of a 5K-ohm pot or vice versa? If possible, I going from one to the other would affect the speed of which the resistance changes as you turn?

More details about the specific application, esp. the schematic, would allow a proper assessment. However, most cases I've encountered (pot for steering, or throttle, or volume) it WOULD NOT MATTER AT ALL if it was a 10K vice 5K. That's because it's very common for them to be wired as a voltage divider. One end of the pot is held at +5V, the other at GND, and the wiper is fed back to the game ADC. As a result, the wiper's voltage varies from 0V to 5V, regardless of the value of the pot. The only difference is the load of the +5V supply, which will be a bit lower with a 10K pot vice a 5K... but it's tiny in either case.
 
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