The invention relates to an adjustable resistance device, in particular to a conducting liquid contact-type friction-free rotary potentiometer. The potentiometer provided by the invention adopts the structure that a ring-shaped conductive electrode (2), a circular arc-shaped naked fixed resistor (3), a conducting liquid drop (4), inert gas and external metallic sealing lead wires (5) are arranged in a ring-shaped gas-tight sealed box (1) in a built-in manner, wherein, two ends of the fixed resistor and the ring-shaped conductive electrode are both led out of the ring-shaped gas-tight sealed box (1) through the external metallic sealing lead wires (5). The rotary potentiometer provided by the invention has the benefits of mechanical contact prevention, friction and noise prevention, long service life, wide application, and the like; and due to the gravity action of the gravitational attraction, the potentiometer can be vertically mounted to be served as tilt sensors, shock sensors, displacement sensors, liquid level sensors, and the like.