FIU CHM 1045: General Chemistry I
CHM 1045 (with the CHM 1045L lab) is FIU's first general chemistry course: measurement, stoichiometry, atomic structure, periodicity, bonding, and gases. It serves the university's large pre-health, biology, and engineering populations. Note the number: FIU uses CHM 1045 where some other Florida schools number the same course 2045.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with Florida International University. This is an unofficial study guide.
What makes it hard
Stoichiometry is the gating skill, and the course is merciless about it: students still slow at mole conversions after the first month spend the rest of the term underwater, because every later chapter assumes that fluency. Exams are timed and calculation-dense, and the separate lab adds pre-labs and reports that make chemistry cost more weekly hours than its credit count admits.
What you'll cover
- • Measurement and dimensional analysis
- • Stoichiometry and the mole
- • Atomic structure and periodic trends
- • Chemical bonding and Lewis structures
- • Molecular geometry
- • Gas laws
The CHM 1045 study guide
How to study for FIU CHM 1045, step by step.
- 1
Make mole math reflexive within three weeks
Stoichiometry gates everything after it in CHM 1045. Do short daily conversion drills until grams-to-moles-to-particles is automatic. Fluency here is the cheapest insurance in the course.
- 2
Front-load the pure memorization
Put polyatomic ions, nomenclature, and solubility basics into flashcards in the first weeks. Exam time should go to multi-step reasoning, not to recalling what sulfate is.
- 3
Practice under a clock from the first exam on
Timed, calculation-dense exams punish slow accuracy as much as error. Weekly timed problem sets train the speed the format demands.
- 4
Budget the lab as its own course
CHM 1045L's pre-labs and reports have their own deadlines and their own grade. Plan the week assuming chemistry takes half again the hours the credit count suggests.
Today
Today's CHM 1045 plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for CHM 1045. Yours is built from your own syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is CHM 1045 a weed-out class at FIU?
It functions as one for pre-health and science tracks: timed calculation-heavy exams, cumulative skills, and a separate lab workload. It's reliably passable with weekly problem volume and early stoichiometry fluency; it reliably punishes note-rereaders.
Is FIU's CHM 1045 the same as CHM 2045 at other Florida schools?
Functionally yes. It's the same first general chemistry course in the statewide numbering system, and it transfers as such. FIU simply catalogs it at the 1000 level, so don't panic when the numbers don't match a friend's schedule at another state school.
Do I take CHM 1045L at the same time as CHM 1045?
Most FIU degree maps pair them, and downstream courses expect both completed. The lab is a separate grade with pre-labs and reports on their own schedule, so treat it as additional weekly workload, not an afterthought.
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