Do you need a MOSFET gate resistor? What value should it be? And should it go before or after the pulldown resistor?
If you’re a bit impatient and just want the answer, here it is:
It will most likely work without a gate resistor, but adding one can prevent some potential problems. And 1000 Ω will most likely work. See the circuit diagram below for connecting your MOSFET gate resistor (the Pull-down resistor is optional):

Why Do You Need a Gate Resistor?
In how transistors work, we briefly touched upon that gate-to-source of a MOSFET acts as a capacitor.

And a capacitor works like this:
- When a capacitor is charging – current flows through it. A lot in the beginning, then less and less.
- When a capacitor is fully charged – no current flows through it.
When your MOSFET is turned on, its gate-source capacitor is fully charged. So there is no current flowing through the gate.
But when your MOSFET is being turned on, you’ll have a current that is charging this gate-source capacitor. So for a small fraction of a second, there can be a lot of current flowing.
To make sure this short burst of current isn’t too high for your Arduino/Raspberry Pi/microcontroller (or whatever you’ve connected it to) you need to add a resistor in series between the output pin and the MOSFET transistor’s gate:

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Choosing A Resistor Value
Often 1000 Ω is a good enough value for this. But it depends on your circuit.
You can calculate the maximum current you get from a resistor by using Ohm’s law for current:
For example in the case of Arduino that has 5V on its output pins, 1000 Ω gives you a maximum current of 5 mA (and Arduino pins can handle up to 40 mA):
If you want to switch the output on and off rapidly, keep in mind that the higher resistance you are using, the slower the MOSFET will turn on/off.
MOSFET Gate Resistor Placement
Are you using a pulldown resistor for your MOSFET? Then remember that if the gate resistor is placed to the left of the pulldown resistor, you get a voltage divider circuit that will reduce the voltage to the gate:

If you have chosen a gate resistor that is at least 100 times smaller than the pulldown resistor, then the reduction in voltage is so small that it doesn’t matter. But if they are a bit closer in value, the voltage on your gate will be lower than the pin voltage.
The solution? Switch places between the two so that the pulldown resistor is connected directly to the output pin:

More Transistors Tutorials

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Explained so well regarding MOSFET Gate Resistor. The results depend totally on the devices used. However, how accurate these devices are gives us an indication as to whether or not their results can be relied upon – and precisely we should always make sure about platforms that offer up the best electronic input/ output devices. Once we’ve found those, we can trust that their readings will be accurate.
Agradecia que me ensinassem como posso adaptar um controlador de slot car com resistência variável no punho adaptando -lhe um mosfet irfz44n. Da pista vem 3 fios: Um preto negativo. um branco positivo 15volt e um vermelho negativo para o travão. Não consigo descobrir o segredo. Na pista corre o carro com 2 escovas uma ao positivo, o da direita considerando o sentido de marcha, e a da esquerda. antecipadamente grato pelo envio de um esquema de ligação, ou outro simples mas eficaz, apresento os meus cumprimentos.
Excellent article! Just to be nit-picky though, current never flows “through” a capacitor. It is better to think of it as charge flowing “up to” one plate of the capacitor, and “away from” the other plate as it charges. This doesn’t really affect your explanation of gate charging, however I thought I would off this for clarity. This explanation of capacitor current “flow” helped me tremendously in school to better understand how capacitors truly operate under the influence of DC versus AC systems, and why DC “blocks” current flow and AC allows it.
Well done Sir, your explanations were incredible. Thank you so much for the article.