A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance varies significantly with temperature, more so than in standard resistors.

The word is a portmanteauof thermal and resistor. Thermistors are widely used as inrush current limiters, temperature sensors, self-resetting overcurrent protectors, and selfregulating heating elements. Thermistors differ from resistance temperature detectors (RTD) in that the material used in a thermistor is generally a ceramic or polymer, while RTDs use pure metals. The temperature response is also different; RTDs are useful over larger temperature ranges, while thermistors typically achieve a [1] higher precision within a limited temperature range, typically 90 C to 130 C.
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Basic operation[edit]

Thermistor symbol

Assuming, as a first-order approximation, that the relationship between resistance and temperature is linear, then:

where = change in resistance = change in temperature = first-order temperature coefficient of resistance Thermistors can be classified into two types, depending on the sign of . If is positive, the resistance increases with increasing temperature, and the device is called a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor, or posistor. If is negative, the resistance decreases with increasing temperature, and the device is called a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor. Resistors that are not thermistors are designed to have a as close to zero as possible, so that their resistance remains nearly constant over a wide temperature range. Instead of the temperature coefficient k, sometimes the temperature coefficient of [2] resistance (alpha sub T) is used. It is defined as

This

coefficient should not be confused with the

parameter below.

SteinhartHart equation[edit]

In practice, the linear approximation (above) works only over a small temperature range. For accurate temperature measurements, the resistance/temperature curve of the device must be described in more detail. The SteinhartHart equation is a widely used third-order approximation:

where a, b and c are called the SteinhartHart parameters, and must be specified for each device. T is the temperature in kelvin and R is the resistance in ohms. To give resistance as a function of temperature, the above can be rearranged into:

where

and The error in the SteinhartHart equation is generally less than 0.02 C in the measurement of temperature over a 200 C [3] range. As an example, typical values for a thermistor with a resistance of 3000 at room temperature (25 C = 298.15 K) are: