The phlogiston theory is an obsolete scientific theory of combustion. It was developed by J. J. Becher late in the 17th century and was extended and popularized by Georg Ernst Stahl, who declared the rusting of metal to be a combustion process. Phlogiston theory - Theory. The theory holds that all flammable materials contain phlogiston (derived noun form of the Greek phlogistos, meaning flammable), a substance without color, odor, taste, or weight that is liberated in burning. Once burn ...

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• Phlogiston theory - Theory
• Phlogiston theory - Challenge and demise
• Phlogiston theory - Bibliography

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Eventually, quantitative experiments revealed problems, including the fact that some metals, such as magnesium gained weight when they burned, even though they were supposed to have lost phlogiston. Some phlogiston proponents explained this by concluding that it had "negative weight"; others, such as Guyton de Morveau, gave the more conventional argument that phlogiston was lighter than air. However, a more detailed analysis based on the Archimedean principle and the densities of magnesium and its combustion product shows that just being lig ...

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Phlogiston theory, Phlogiston theory - Theory, Phlogiston theory - Challenge and demise, Phlogiston theory - Bibliography

Read more here: » Phlogiston theory: Encyclopedia II - Phlogiston theory - Challenge and demise

The theory holds that all flammable materials contain phlogiston (derived noun form of the Greek phlogistos, meaning flammable), a substance without color, odor, taste, or weight that is liberated in burning. Once burned, the "dephlogisticated" substance was held to be in its "true" form, the calx. "Phlogisticated" substances are those that contain phlogiston and are "dephlogisticated" when burned. Since any substance could be observed to burn for only a limited time with limited air (for instance in a sealed container), air was thought ...

See also:

Phlogiston theory, Phlogiston theory - Theory, Phlogiston theory - Challenge and demise, Phlogiston theory - Bibliography

Read more here: » Phlogiston theory: Encyclopedia II - Phlogiston theory - Theory