What is the difference between chlorine and non-chlorine bleach?
The mechanism of action of both chlorine and non-chlorine bleaches is similar. Substances are colored because they contain electrons that can absorb visible light and jump to higher energies. The kinetic energy of the electrons in a molecule can only have certain very specific values, a phenomenon known as “quantization.” An electron can absorb a photon of light only if the energy of the photon (which depends on its wavelength, or color) is the difference between the electron’s final and initial energies. Many, but not all, colored molecules absorb visible light because their electrons are bound in a system of linked carbon-carbon double bonds. Oxidation of such molecules breaks these bonds, ruining the light-absorbing properties of the molecule. The bleaches are oxidizing agents. This action does not work for some stains, such as blood. The red substance in blood, hemoglobin, is not decolorized by oxidation; in fact, it is red only when oxidized. But oxidizing agents destroy enough co
