As an important electronic component, the potentiometer is mainly used to adjust the voltage division ratio and change the potential in the circuit, playing an adjustable role. The potentiometer, whose English symbol is RP, is evolved from the variable resistor and consists of a resistor and a rotating or sliding system. The working principle of the potentiometer is that the contact brush of the boom slides on the resistor body, thereby continuously changing the resistance between the boom and both ends.
Potentiometers can be divided into the following common types according to their structure and materials:
Synthetic Membrane Potentiometer: This is the most widely used type of potentiometer today. The resistor is usually made of carbon film, graphite, quartz powder and organic powder mixture mixed into a suspension, and coated on a glass glazed fiber board or adhesive paper. Synthetic membrane potentiometers are widely used due to their simple manufacturing process, wide resistance range, high resolution, long life, low price and various models. This type of potentiometer can be made into various forms such as potentiometers with switches and precision potentiometers.
Organic solid potentiometer: It is made by mixing and heating materials such as carbon black, quartz powder and organic binder, and then pressed into a plastic body and polymerized by heating. This type of potentiometer can be made into various forms such as small, fine-tuning, linear, logarithmic, etc., and is suitable for different application scenarios.

Metal film potentiometer: This type of potentiometer
The resistor is made of metal synthetic gold film, metal oxide film, tantalum oxide film and other materials deposited on the ceramic body through vacuum technology. Metal film potentiometers are widely used for their heat resistance, high resolution, low contact resistance, small distributed capacitance and inductance, and low noise.
Wire wound potentiometer: This type of potentiometer is made by winding resistance wire around a ring frame. They usually have a small resistance range, large power, good heat resistance, stability and high accuracy. Although wirewound potentiometers have large distributed capacitance and inherent inductance, as well as low noise, they are not suitable for use in high-frequency applications due to their large inductance.
Digital potentiometer: A digital potentiometer is a programmable resistor, which is a semiconductor integrated circuit and has the advantage of having no moving parts. This potentiometer has the characteristics of high adjustment accuracy, no noise, long service life, and no mechanical wear. The digital potentiometer also has functions such as data readability and writing, configuration registers and data registers, and multi-level storage, making it easy to control and small in size. It is suitable for a variety of applications such as household appliances, medical equipment, and testing instruments.