Dunno, but I do know liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) is one of those unstable ones. As a matter of fact in the hot summer if you pour liquid chlorine into your pool at chest level instead of ankle level you will lose a significant portion of your chlorine (sunlight will destroy it). And the chlorine that goes in your pool as a stable solid (chlorine tabs, powder, ect) is usually coated with cyanuric acid which protects the chlorine from the sun when it does go into its active form in the water. If your pool has low cyanuric acid levels all your chlorine will be gone from your pool in no time (most don't know this because like I said most chlorine tabs come with the cyanuric acid so pool owners rarely have to worry about it). But when you "shock" your pool to oxidize all the pool buildup, that "shock" does not have cyanuric acid which is why it is a momentary, it boosts chlorine levels quickly then gets destroyed quickly.

^^^ Sounds good to me. Lets go with that one.

This is more inclined to the short question threed agent but ill have a short basic go at it.

Photons carry energy. This energy can be imparted to an electron in an atom and cause it to jump orbitals to a higher state. These states are normaly unstable an want to react with something simular to how radicals react to stabilize all that excess energy.

Look up things like photon energy and triplet states as well as photochemical reactivity. I have been considering scanning a book on the very subject and I could go into a great more detail but honestly I don't feel like it right now.

Look at it this way, you need energy for reactivity. This may come from a catalyst or it could in some synthesis come from light if the catalyst is able to absorb that energy. Damoose'es threed details this behavior with the great light reactive catalyst TiO2.


EDIT:Fuck while I was typing 3 more replys... it aint take me that long did it?

Chemicals don't really react with light, light can cause reactions to happen by kicking off electrons, or making them jump up to another energy level, forming radicals, ions, etc.

whats in light that makes the chemical react?

Light, being anything on the electromagnetic spectrum is composed of photons with varying amounts of energy.  Not all light, nor compounds affect each other in the same way.. but obviously it has to do with the energy photon has..

Like, why does Tartaric acid with HCL in it, react to light badly?

Things don't react goodly, or badly. They simply react.
Also.. It isn't HCL, it is HCl.

Least.. that is what I've read at some point in my life.

No, it could still be possibly with certain chemicals, such as a protein could be denatured in such conditions. Also some chemicals react with themselves, such as many of the aldehydes.

Back to them? You mean you went to them to beggin with? . Fuck dude even my High school  chem book explains this one well enough for you to understand

LOL im sorry, I was just busting your ballz a bit since I was bord. Don't take offense to 90% of the shit I say. Your the new guy a little Hazing never hurt anyone.....

But you give us so many shots some of them have to be clean shots!

LOL finally someone gets me!

I was confused when I'm trying to look up ketones and I see nothing but math problems and word problems. I'm starting to think I should have paid more attention in math than chemistry

Opps...Forgot my note.

That post was a joke...I'm really excited, I just bought a 1960's chemistry set with all the original chemicals in it.