One photographer set out on a mission to determine when he could take the film out of a the processing tank and look at it under room lighting. To do this, he found out the simplified chemical reactions involved in processing a roll of film.
If you can remember your high school chemistry, you should be able to follow along.
Check out Film Photography Blog's article, Film Processing Chemistry, How Does It Work.
Oh, and the answer to his question? It is at the end of the article.
