The Best of Twilight Sparkle's Twilight Time

by Greatmewtwo

Bleach for your Pool

Another hour went by as Twilight broke for her snack. Today, it was a box of raisins and a cup of yogurt while she applied fades, wipes, and 3D effects to her video. She also sat to program the chapters in her DVD for the first part of her compilation. Video editing programs, as she found, are quite fun to work with, especially when the magic behind the TV shows she would watch came to be demystified. As her wireless Internet segment ended, she decided to make that the start of the second chapter. A few clicks and drags set where the video goes when you hit the next button on her media player. With that minutia fulfilled, Twilight went to record a wraparound about her next segment, involving bleach.

"Bleach," she said. "There are very few disinfecting agents more powerful than sodium hypochlorite-based bleach. I can't remember the last time I washed anything without it or cleaned anything without it, such as my dishes or my bathroom. What many may not realize is that we use bleaches to disinfect our pools, especially to keep them free of germs and algae. I remember one time I went swimming and my eyes were burning like crazy, but right then, I realized that Indigo Zap "conveniently" had her pool treated right as they were inviting everyone to her house to swim, but here we go."

Her own segment ended, and she then faded her video into another clip, which talked about bleach and pool chlorination:

"So, with all of us recovering from Valentine's Day rather efficiently, our next Twilight Time question comes fittingly from @inzap, who writes:"

Dear Twilight,
I just came out of the pool and my eyes are burning like crazy. They just put some of those chlorine tablets in, too. What's going on, and why do they put these tablets in the pool every time I want to jump in?

"Well, @inzap, in the world of chemistry, we know of chlorine because of its antimicrobial qualities. In its natural state, chlorine is a halogen and a gas, but if you bind it to some other elements such as sodium and oxygen, you can deliver it to wherever you need it; in this case, we add it to our pools to sanitize and disinfect them."

As she talked, the video showed Twilight bringing a beaker filled with water that was dyed a medium green, a pipette, and a smaller beaker with standard liquid chlorine bleach.

"When chlorine is added to water, we get a reaction which leaves us with HOCl (hypochlorous acid) + HCl (hydrochloric acid). The hypochlorous acid is the active, killing form of chlorine; this is the acid bound to sodium that you find in liquid chlorine bleach for your pool or for your white clothes. The chlorine molecule or ion kills microorganisms and cells by disrupting the cell walls and destroying the inner enzymes, structures and processes, as could be illustrated here with this green water and this bleach. For all of you little kids out there, have an adult around when you do this, as this is really dangerous."

Right then, she proceeded to draw out some bleach into the pipette and drop it into the beaker with the dyed water. She stirred the mixture with a glass rod as the green dye appeared to break down and the water ran clearer.

"The hypochlorous molecule continues this slash & burn until it combines with a nitrogen or ammonia compound, becoming a chloramine, or it is broken down into its component atoms, becoming de-activated itself."

In the video, Twilight could be seen bringing the camera back into view so as to face the audience.

"Despite the antimicrobial action of chlorine, it is extremely toxic, and the alkaline binders can alkalize the water in your pool to unsafe levels. Symptoms of exposure include skin irritation, burning of the eyes, and breathing trouble where concentrations are heavy in the air. That is why you should handle chlorine products with extreme care; wear gloves when you're using them, avoid mixing with other chemicals, especially ammonia, and use with adequate ventilation. In case of exposure, wash the skin thoroughly, flush the eyes out with plenty of water if appropriate, get to as much fresh air as possible, and seek medical attention."

Watching the video, Twilight stopped right there so that she can add the title cards to overlay on the video. She felt that it would help her audience in keeping the message she had delivered. As soon as that finished, she let the video run to the end of the clip.

"You see? Here at Twilight Time, we love our viewers enough to give them safety tips for their everyday lives...and I hope that I talked someone else with a similar question out of bleaching their skin before they get hurt."

With that, the clip ended.

Twilight's next clip would involve how to connect to the Internet. She had seen many different ways to connect to the Information Superhighway over the years; Shining Armor using a dial-up connection to send a simple e-mail, Sci-Twi using a DSL line to download a video, and even Fluttershy downloading the most wonderful picture of dogs to her phone. She often thought about how far people came from the first telephone call, such that they were now able to make calls with audio and video to anyone halfway around the world. To her, it was still mind-blowing, despite the many hours she would not have to spend in the library looking at encyclopedias and other print materials.

Comments

[Dubs Rewatcher]

This is a really interesting fic.