Course Description
CHM1032 is Florida's one-semester chemistry course for nursing and allied-health students. Chemists call this kind of course "GOB": general, organic and biological chemistry in one term. The Statewide Course Numbering System (SCNS) titles it General Chemistry for Science Allied Fields (One Semester) and describes it plainly: "For allied science fields not for physical science majors, engineers, etc. Warning: not intended as a substitute for courses in the CHM 040-049 series. Same content as CHM-030 + CHM-031."
That last sentence places the course exactly. `CHM1030` + `CHM1031` is the two-semester version of the same subject (Santa Fe, UF and Florida A&M teach it that way). `CHM1032` packs both semesters into one, and `CHM1033` is a third, condensed version (Miami Dade, the College of the Florida Keys, FIU and North Florida). All three exist for students who need chemistry as background for the body, not as a major.
Ten Florida public institutions teach it under this number, and an eleventh still appears in the state file (see Offering Notes). ⚠ They use nine different titles: Chemistry for Health Sciences, Chemistry for Health Related Fields, General Chemistry for Allied Health, General, Organic and Biochemistry, Principles of Chemistry, plain General Chemistry, and more. The titles differ but the subject does not. Every carrier whose catalogue description could be read (Broward, Palm Beach State, Gulf Coast, UCF, Seminole State's `C` version) describes the same course for nursing and allied-health students. Palm Beach State's "Principles of Chemistry" and UCF's "General Chemistry" sound like other courses, but their catalogues say the same thing as the rest. If your catalogue calls it something this guide does not mention, it is still this course.
⚠⚠⚠ There is one real exception, and it is about credits, not content. Indian River State College carries `CHM1032` as Biochemistry for Health Professionals at 1 credit: only the biochemistry part, used as a top-up inside an 8-credit chemistry requirement. IRSC's catalogue states that it is not a natural-science general-education course. Everyone else carries 3 credits. A 1-credit `CHM1032` on a transcript is not the same amount of chemistry as a 3-credit one, even though the number matches. See Special Information.
⚠⚠ And the warning in the statewide text is the most important thing in this guide. This course does not replace `CHM2045` General Chemistry I (the `CHM 040–049` series) for any programme that asks for it. Pharmacy, physician assistant, dentistry, medicine, most dietetics, most biology and every physical-science or engineering degree want `CHM2045`/`CHM2046`. A student who takes `CHM1032` and later moves to one of those programmes usually starts chemistry again.
Learning Outcomes
Required Outcomes
- Use metric units, scientific notation, significant figures and dimensional analysis to solve measurement and conversion problems, including the dosage-style conversions health programmes use.
- Classify matter, distinguish physical from chemical properties and changes, and describe the three states of matter and changes of state.
- Describe atomic structure (protons, neutrons, electrons, isotopes, electron arrangement) and use the periodic table to predict charges and behaviour.
- Describe nuclear radiation (alpha, beta, gamma), half-life, and its medical uses in imaging and therapy, along with radiation safety.
- Name and write formulae for ionic and molecular compounds, draw simple Lewis structures, and predict polarity.
- Balance chemical equations and apply the mole concept to simple stoichiometric calculations.
- Apply the gas laws to physiological situations such as breathing and blood gases.
- Calculate and interpret solution concentrations (percent, molarity, and where taught, milliequivalents), and explain osmosis and tonicity for IV solutions and cells.
- Describe acids, bases, pH and buffers, including the bicarbonate buffer of the blood and the meaning of acidosis and alkalosis.
- Recognise the major organic functional groups (alkanes, alkenes, aromatics, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, amines, amides) and their typical reactions.
- Describe the structure and function of the four classes of biomolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.
- Explain how enzymes work and what affects their activity, and outline the role of metabolism in energy production.
Optional Outcomes
- Explain reaction rates and equilibrium qualitatively, including Le Chatelier's principle. This gets more time where the course also prepares students for `CHM2045` (Seminole State says its `C` version can serve that purpose).
- Trace metabolic pathways in outline (glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, the electron-transport chain, fatty-acid oxidation). This is deeper at Indian River's biochemistry-only version and at colleges teaching a biochemistry-heavy GOB.
- Describe DNA replication, transcription and protein synthesis, and how mutations and genetic disease arise.
- Relate chemistry to pharmacology: drug functional groups, solubility and why some drugs are given as salts.
- Describe vitamins, hormones and neurotransmitters as chemical compounds.
- Where the paired laboratory is taken (`CHM1032L`): use basic laboratory equipment safely, make measurements, and record and report results.
Major Topics
Required Topics
- Measurement: metric system, significant figures, density and specific gravity, dimensional analysis
- Matter and energy: classification, states of matter, heat and specific heat, energy in nutrition
- Atoms and the periodic table: atomic structure, isotopes, electron arrangement, periodic trends
- Nuclear chemistry: radiation types, half-life, medical isotopes, radiation safety
- Compounds and bonding: ions, ionic and covalent compounds, naming, Lewis structures, shape and polarity, intermolecular forces
- Chemical reactions and quantities: balancing equations, the mole, molar mass, basic stoichiometry
- Gases: pressure, the gas laws, partial pressures in respiration
- Solutions: solubility, electrolytes, concentration, dilution, osmosis and dialysis
- Acids, bases and buffers: pH, neutralisation, blood buffers
- Organic chemistry: hydrocarbons and the main functional groups, isomers, naming in outline
- Biochemistry: carbohydrates, lipids and membranes, amino acids and proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids
Optional Topics
- Reaction rates and chemical equilibrium
- Oxidation and reduction in metabolism
- Metabolic pathways and ATP production
- Protein synthesis and genetic mutation
- Body fluids: blood, urine and their chemical analysis
- Chirality and its importance for drugs
Resources & Tools
- General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry (Frost, Deal and Humphrey, Pearson): the required text for Seminole State's `CHM1032C` in Spring 2027.
- General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry: Structures of Life (Timberlake, Pearson): the most widely used GOB text in the United States, and common in Florida nursing chemistry.
- Fundamentals of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry (McMurry, Ballantine, Hoeger and Peterson, Pearson).
- The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry (Ball, Hill and Scott): free and open, on LibreTexts. Useful for students who want a no-cost second explanation.
- Online homework systems that come with the textbooks (Pearson Mastering Chemistry, McGraw Hill Connect/ALEKS, or the open-source alternatives some colleges use).
- A scientific calculator. Most courses do not allow phones or graphing calculators in examinations; check the syllabus.
- Laboratory: safety goggles (Seminole State lists anti-fog chemical goggles as required), a laboratory manual, and the lab fee. Broward charges a $19.00 lab fee for `CHM1032L`.
Career Pathways
This is a prerequisite course, not a career course. Its value is that it opens a selective-admission health programme, and the grade counts in admission. The programmes it typically serves, with their federal occupation codes:
- Registered nurses (SOC 29-1141): associate (ADN) and bachelor's (BSN) nursing
- Licensed practical nurses (SOC 29-2061)
- Respiratory therapists (SOC 29-1126)
- Radiologic technologists (SOC 29-2034), where the nuclear and radiation unit is directly relevant
- Dental hygienists (SOC 29-1292)
- Clinical laboratory technicians (SOC 29-2018). Indian River's Medical Laboratory Technology A.S. asks for 8 credits of chemistry and lists `CHM1032` among the courses that count.
- Surgical technologists (SOC 29-2055) and paramedics (SOC 29-2043), at colleges whose programmes require chemistry
- Dietetic technicians (SOC 29-2051), where the programme does not require `CHM2045`
Florida's health-care employers hire graduates of these programmes in very large numbers: AdventHealth, Orlando Health, BayCare, HCA Florida Healthcare, Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Tampa General and Jackson Health System among them.
Special Information
⚠⚠⚠ Check which chemistry your target programme asks for, before you register
Florida's health programmes do not agree on chemistry, and that is the most common way this course goes wrong for a student. In broad terms:
- Many nursing and allied-health programmes accept `CHM1032` (or its relatives `CHM1030`, `CHM1033`, or `CHM1020`). Some require it; some list it as one of several options; some do not require chemistry at all.
- Programmes heading to a professional degree want `CHM2045`/`CHM2045L` and usually `CHM2046`: pharmacy, physician assistant, medicine, dentistry, most dietetics and nutrition science, and many pre-health biology tracks. The statewide record says outright that `CHM1032` is not a substitute for them.
- If you are unsure whether you will stay in nursing or move to a programme that needs `CHM2045`, ask an adviser. Taking `CHM2045` from the start can save a semester. For a student who is not ready for `CHM2045`, the preparatory course is `CHM1025`, not this one.
Look up your target programme in Florida's Common Prerequisites Manual (FloridaShines) and in the receiving school's admission requirements. Use the programme's own list, not the course title.
Offering Notes — offerings and hours, school by school
Credits: nine public carriers teach `CHM1032` at 3 credits, and Indian River State College at 1 credit. FIU's row in the state file is also 3 credits, but FIU's own catalogue lists the course as inactive. Contact hours: Broward publishes 48 lecture hours and Gulf Coast publishes 3 lecture hours a week. Elsewhere the Florida convention gives about 45 hours for 3 lecture credits. The lecture carries no laboratory; the lab is a separate number (below).
| Institution | Its title | Credits | Hours / notes |
|---|
| Broward College | General Chemistry Science Allied Fields | 3 | 48 lecture hours (published). Designed "specifically for Nursing and other Allied Health Technology students." Lab `CHM1032L`: 1 credit, 32 lab hours, $19 fee. |
| College of Central Florida | Chemistry for Health Related Fields | 3 | Not published. Lab `CHM1032L` at 1 credit. Not designated natural-science general education in the state file. |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | General, Organic & Biochemistry | 3 | Not published. Lab `CHM1032L` at 1 credit. |
| Gulf Coast State College | General, Organic, Biochemistry | 3 | 3 lecture hours a week (published). Offered fall and spring. Prerequisite: math placement or a C in a college-level math course. No separate lab number. |
| Hillsborough College | Chemistry for Health Sciences | 3 | Not published. Lab `CHM1032L` at 1 credit. |
| Indian River State College | Biochemistry for Health Professionals | 1 | ⚠ Biochemistry only: lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. Used inside an 8-credit chemistry requirement (Medical Laboratory Technology). IRSC states it is not a natural-science general-education course. |
| Palm Beach State College | Principles of Chemistry | 3 | Not published. "Designated for Nursing and other Allied Health students." Lab `CHM1032L` (1 credit) is a recommended corequisite. |
| St. Johns River State College | Principles of Chemistry | 3 | Not published. Lab `CHM1032L` (Laboratory for Principles of Chemistry) at 1 credit. |
| Tallahassee State College | General Chemistry for Allied Health | 3 | Not published. No separate lab number in the state file. |
| University of Central Florida | General Chemistry | 3 | No lab hours in the lecture. "Primarily oriented toward Health Science majors." Prerequisite: a C or better in MAC1105C College Algebra, MGF1130 Mathematical Thinking, or a higher math course. Lab `CHM1032L`: 1 credit, 3 lab hours a week. |
| Florida International University | Chemistry and Society (state file) / Survey General Chem (FIU) | 3 | ⚠ FIU's own catalogue marks this course inactive. FIU teaches the subject as `CHM1033` Survey of Chemistry (4 credits) with `CHM1033L`. |
The same subject under related numbers:
- `CHM1032C` (lecture and lab together, 4 credits) at Florida State College at Jacksonville (Principles of General Chemistry), State College of Florida (Chemistry for Health Professionals) and Seminole State (Foundations of College Chemistry). Seminole's version requires MAT1033 or higher, assumes no prior chemistry, and "can also be used as a preparation for `CHM2045C`". ⚠ The State College of Florida also lists a 0-credit `CHM1032L`. It appears to be the laboratory registration for its 4-credit `C` course, which carries the credit. The work is real, but a 0-credit lab does not count toward full-time enrolment.
- `CHM1030` + `CHM1031` (two semesters, 3 credits each) at UF, Santa Fe and Florida A&M. The pair together equals this course. The state warns that a sequence should be completed at one institution.
- `CHM1033`, the condensed version, at Miami Dade (3 credits) and the College of the Florida Keys (3), FIU (4) and North Florida College (as `CHM1033C`, 4).
⚠⚠ Transfer: what the number promises and what it does not
- The statewide record gives guaranteed transfer to an institution offering the same course. A 3-credit `CHM1032` moves as `CHM1032`.
- ⚠ Unlike `CHM1020` and `CHM2045`, `CHM1032` is NOT a Florida General Education Core course. Whether it counts as natural-science general education is each college's decision. Eight carriers record it as natural-science general education; Central Florida, FIU and Indian River do not. If you need it to fill a general-education slot, check with the receiving school.
- ⚠⚠ A 1-credit `CHM1032` from Indian River and a 3-credit `CHM1032` elsewhere share a number but not an amount of work. Moving either way, expect the receiving school to look at the credit value. A student leaving IRSC with only the 1-credit version may still owe chemistry.
- The laboratory is separate. Most programmes that require chemistry want "with lab". At Broward, Central Florida, FGCU, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, St. Johns River and UCF that means registering for `CHM1032L` as well. Gulf Coast and Tallahassee State list no lab partner under this number.
- Dual enrolment: the course is open to dual-enrolled high-school students and earns high-school SCIENCE credit in the state record. By contrast, `CHM1020` earns only elective credit. Confirm with your school counsellor and your district's articulation agreement.
Prerequisites, position and workload
The statewide record lists no prerequisite. Carriers set their own, usually a math gate: placement scores, a C in college algebra or Mathematical Thinking (UCF), MAT1033 (Seminole's 4-credit version), or college-level placement in English, reading and math (Palm Beach, Indian River). No prior chemistry is assumed.
⚠ The difficulty is the pace. Two semesters of content in one means a new topic almost every week, and the organic and biochemistry halves bring a great deal of new vocabulary. Plan on 6–9 hours a week outside class. Because selective-admission programmes rank applicants partly on this grade, a B rather than an A can matter. Students who have never had chemistry often do best by taking it in a term with a lighter load.
AI Integration
AI tutors and chatbots are useful in this course for explaining a concept in different words, generating extra practice problems on unit conversions, naming and pH, and quizzing vocabulary in the organic and biochemistry units. They are less reliable on multi-step calculations, where they make arithmetic and significant-figure errors confidently, and on drawing structures. Check every worked answer against your textbook's method.
For a future health-care worker the habit matters more than the tool: a dosage or concentration error is a patient-safety error. Use AI to check your understanding, not to replace your own working, and follow your instructor's rules on what is allowed for homework and examinations.