Three things follow from this form of ionization:
1. Since the tendency of these two ions to react
and form H2O is much stronger than the
tendency of water to break down into the ions,
as the pH increases there are fewer H+ ions and
more OH- ions.
2. The H+, released by the breakdown of HOCl
(equation 5), react to form water (equation 6)
and leave behind residual OCl- ions.
Hypochlorite does not react readily so the
chlorine is weaker.
3. If the pH goes down and H+ ions become
readily available again, the OCl- ions revert to
HOCl, which is the killing form of chlorine.