uwloo

BME 186Chemistry Principles

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Biomedical Engineering

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

The stoichiometry of compounds and chemical reactions. Periodicity and chemical bonding. Electronic structure of atoms and molecules, correlation with the chemical reactivity of common elements, inorganic and organic compounds. Kinetics and thermodynamics in chemical systems. Introduction to electrochemistry, analytical chemistry, and acid/base reactions. Structure, nomenclature, and reactions of important classes of organic compounds and functional groups. Introduction to synthetic and biological polymers and polymerization reactions. Surface chemistry, catalysis, and enzymes. Applications of chemistry principles in biomedical engineering.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0018153120 / 132MW 13:00–14:20
LAB 201815531 / 33Sep 22 12:30–14:20
Oct 6 12:30–14:20
Oct 27 12:30–14:20
Nov 10 12:30–14:20
Nov 24 12:30–14:20
LAB 202886332 / 33Sep 15 12:30–14:20
Sep 29 12:30–14:20
Oct 20 12:30–14:20
Nov 3 12:30–14:20
Nov 17 12:30–14:20
LAB 203886429 / 33Sep 24 12:30–14:20
Oct 8 12:30–14:20
Oct 29 12:30–14:20
Nov 12 12:30–14:20
Nov 26 12:30–14:20
LAB 204886528 / 33Sep 17 12:30–14:20
Oct 1 12:30–14:20
Oct 22 12:30–13:20
Nov 5 12:30–14:20
Nov 19 12:30–14:20
TUT 1018154120 / 132W 14:30–15:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

50% liked it96% easy25% useful

From 24 ratings and 6 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Good high school review for people that took Gr 12 chemistry in the Fall or fast-tracked it. Make sure you do the past midterms since it's been the same one for the past 3 years (and some of the content was not taught for the class of 2024).

    Feb 2020 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Why do so many people hate this course? It's all review. Take it and go!

    Feb 2021 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • the biweekly labs were pretty fun and the tests weren't difficult. there was a lot of content that felt kind of unrelated although most of the material was review from grade 12 chem and bio.

    Apr 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Basically high school chemistry mixed with some high school biology. The course content was disorganized and felt like there was a lot of memorization. Chemistry was one of my favourite courses in high school and I was expecting this course to be more math heavy, so I was disappointed. The tests were online and were easy. The labs were fun. The exam wasn’t bad, except there were a lot of mistakes in the questions.

    Apr 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course is a review of all chemistry topics from high school, and even if you did not see a topic before, it is quite easy. It's probably one of the easiest BME courses so far.

    Sep 2021 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

One post or comment in 1 thread mentions BME 186, September 2023 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2023

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar