CHEM 140Introduction to Scientific Calculations
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Science
- Subject
- Chemistry
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 7 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 1 lecture section. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
The application of numeric computing software to perform basic calculations, data analysis, regression analysis, plotting of scientific graphs, data manipulation, and equation solving will be covered in this course, with an emphasis placed upon chemical and biochemical concepts and applications.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
- Not open to students enrolled in Faculty of Mathematics programs
Leads to
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAB 001 | 7149 | 30 / 35 | M 14:30–17:20 |
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 701 | 2511 | 165 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
| LAB 001 | 6809 | 0 / 250 | TTh 10:00–11:20 |
Reviewed on UW Flow
38% liked it55% easy78% useful
From 137 ratings and 41 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
This course is, to put it simply, a disaster. It's an online course that's structured as if it's in-person. The grading is complete nonsense, while you might feel you're doing well on the weekly assignments (70s-80s), when the midterm and final come around, don't expect to get higher than a 40. The variation between Jake Fisher's grading and the rest of his TA's in ridiculous. The TA feedback is pretty much useless, so it's hard to 'do better', as we don't necessarily know what's wrong. This course may provide helpful skills for upper-year courses but it's hell to complete.
Mar 2023 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
sucks
Feb 2026 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
I am about to drop this course. I have this and two third year courses online while I am working this term and this class both takes up the most time and is the most tedious class I have done in my 3 years at the University of Waterloo. The pre-lab assignments require a 95% to move on and require downloading files, and making multiple new files. This is before the actual assignments. The learn page is a complete mess and in my opinion the course is way overcomplicated.
I have been using excel professionally in internships, labs and freelance work and consider myself pretty good with it, so I thought this class would be an easy credit and grade boost but the structure makes it nothing but…Jan 2026 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
While the course isn't super difficult, the course has 2 main flaws.
1. Jake Fischer (the prof) sucks. He is rude/dismissive of his students. Worst of all, he gives unclear instructions, and when you ask for clarification, he's not of much help either. You're better off asking other students for help.
2. The structure of the course sucks and while it does teach you important technical skills. While the assignments and the pre-labs make you work with unclear instructions. The real crime is the midterm and final. They're nothing like the assignments, and graded much harsher as the TAs grade the assignments and Jake grades the final/midterm.Jan 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
it was a useful course because it introduces you to lots of technical skills on excel you didnt think were so applicable to the sciences, but the prof made it bad. dr. fisher responded to questions so badly, answering with questions to your question, giving you still no guide to solve your problem. this was from my experience on piazza and on email, i never went to his office hours, but his support was terrible from online. he was also too strict with the class work, he never curved his tests or exams, and marked badly, never really communicated well enough with his TAs on marking (because your TA gives you this great mark and you think youre good for midterm, but then dr. fisher marks the…
Sep 2024 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
92 posts and comments in 71 threads mention CHEM 140, October 2013 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 2024
biochem at waterloo 3 points, 2 comments
“Hi! I’m applying to university this fall for biochemistry/life sciences and I'm having trouble deciding which school to choose. …”
u/vimeomaster54: “… you much space, but also due to the straight difficulty of some of their required courses (CHEM 140, CHEM 264, CHEM 265, etc.) It's much more of a chem program than a bio program, so if you were looking for a balance between the two, you're not going to find it there. …”
Spring 2024
CHEM 140 moment 18 points, 5 comments
u/number1bamtori: “https://preview.redd.it/m0cms6mjwc7d1.png?width=817&format=png&auto=webp&s=de736b73fd015fa74d92ba5f7ff7ee8bcd28b3ea wanted to kms after seeing my midterm mark but it wasn't just me”
u/NoThisIsPatrick-1671: “Im also in chem 140 and i got a 45 :((((( I genuinely thought i did good but ig not. Where did you find this graph? did he post it on learn?”
Life Sci 2 points, 11 comments
“Hi!! I'm a grade 12 student that recently got into the life sci program and is still debating between waterloo and life-sci at uts. What are your honest thoughts about the Life-sci program?? …”
u/Midnight1131: “Waterloo doesn't do life science, you'll be immediately placed in the major you selected on OUAC. Some of them are very different than the others, so you should be mindful of that. …”
u/smol_pumpkinnn: “… CHEM 140 will most likely be the biggest headache you'll have in the first year (midterm average is in the 30-40s).”
life sci first year workload 1 point, 5 comments
“\title Also, how are the labs for first year and what profs would you guys recommend?”
u/smol_pumpkinnn: “… BIOL 130 and CHEM 140 (if you're in biochem) are the headache courses for First Year, but it's not impossible. Laura Ingram is great for CHEM 120/121 and 123/125. …”
CHEM 120 with Jake Fisher for SPRING 1 point, 3 comments
“Has anyone had him? Is he good? I am taking the course in spring with him and I have found a lot of negative reviews of him. Would the midterms/finals be most likely online?”
u/smol_pumpkinnn: “Fisher's poor reviews are mainly from CHEM 140. He's really tough on midterms, assignments take super long, and he takes no excuses. …”
u/em69420ma: “… A lot of people say "You can't judge him only based on Chem 140; he just hates that class," or "He's actually the sweetest person to other profs and some classes", and it's fair to have their own opinions and likeness of him because of their experiences, but personally, I think …”
u/pan33rMan: “I took chem140 in 3rd year and the weird rules and harsh grading made it harder than thermodynamics and quantum physics (both of which I did at the same time as chem140) I took chem120 online so I'm not sure what the course looks like now, but if you're following a course …”
u/pan33rMan: “For chem140? Yeah the course was entirely online”
Fall 2023
Does the library give out laptops? 8 points, 6 comments
“I need a laptop to run excel on. Does the UW library give them out for free to borrow for a few weeks? Or alternatively does anyone know where I can buy a laptop for super cheap? …”
u/Spackal2: “Chem 140 exam?”
chem140 1 point, 5 comments
u/RareUnderstanding531: “People who took chem140 did your final marks get curved? considering the midterm marks and all are always failing”
chem 140 midterm 1 point, 0 comments
u/simrants: “curious to know your thoughts on the midterm for anyone who took it i think i bombed it mainly because i was trying to figure out how to get all the marks when the question itself only accounted for like 5 out of 20ish :((( does anyone agree that the difficulty of the midterm …”
CHEM140 1 point, 1 comment
u/DwarvesInATrenchcoat: “I’m sorry to say that struggling through Chem 140 is a right of passage for UW chemistry student. The course is historically piss poor and marked completely weirdly. …”
CHEM140 1 point, 0 comments
What were the most challenging courses you have taken? 1 point, 13 comments
“I know math 145 is a hard one? What else?”
u/pan33rMan: “Chem140 is the hardest course I've taken, and I took it in 3rd year”
Chem140 1 point, 3 comments
u/Agitated-Tiger-9578: “Literally spend 2 hours on prelab and make no progress Repeat every week 😅need to get 95% in order to open the lab itself I don’t find any value for prelab beside torturing students”
u/pan33rMan: “I took chem140 with thermodynamics, quantum physics, and electromagnetism. Somehow chem140 was harder than them all. Probably the hardest course I've ever taken simply because all the assignments and pre-labs felt so pointless and soul-crushing.”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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