He is currently a contributor to boing boing wink books and wink fun. The ballast resistor is used to limit the current through the led and to prevent that it burns. What Is The Function Of A Resistor Functions Explained With Which Resistor Should I Use With My Led Kitronik Calculating Current Limiting Resistor Values For Led Proper parallel led circuits have a series resistor for each led. Why use resistor in led . He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology diy and geek culture. To limit the current in the led to a safe value. If you would attach an led to a 5 volt power supply directly you would burn it instantly. So its vital to stay within the limits of the led. The simplest circuit to power an led is a voltage source with a resistor and an led in series. Leds are semiconductors diodes in particular. When...