How to use Arduino to read values from a potentiometer?

Question

I have a potentiometer and want to use it to control a component like an LED or motor eventually, but for now, I just want to read its values in the Serial Monitor using Arduino. How should I wire it, and what code should I use?

Admin · Answer

There are many tutorials available online on interfacing a potentiometer with Arduino, explaining this in depth.
Still, I will cover this quickly:

A typical potentiometer has 3 pins:

One side pin goes to GND
The other side pin goes to 5V
The middle pin (wiper) connects to an analog input pin, like A0 on your Arduino

This setup allows the potentiometer to act as a voltage divider, and the middle pin will give you a variable voltage between 0V and 5V as you turn the knob.

Upload this program:

const int potPin = A0;  

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);  
}

void loop() {
  int potValue = analogRead(potPin);  // Read value (0–1023)
  Serial.println(potValue);           // Output the value to Serial Monitor
  delay(100);                         // Small delay for readability
}

Once the code is uploaded, open the Serial Monitor. As you turn the knob, you’ll see values between 0 and 1023:

Close to 0 when turned all the way to one side(towards GND)
Close to 1023 when turned to the opposite side(towards 5V)
Around 512 when centered