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Phlogiston theory

Johann Joachim BecherGeorg Ernst StahlJoseph Priestley

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

In the 18th century combustion was explained as the release of a principle called "phlogiston" from a substance. Lavoisier's theory that combustion is combination with oxygen from the air replaced this explanation. Some historians of science argue that phlogiston theory had real explanatory power in its day and was abandoned too quickly.

For specialists

For Stahl, the calcination of metals is a loss of phlogiston, and heating a metal calx (oxide) with charcoal restores the phlogiston and yields the metal. The key difficulty is that metals gain weight when calcined; some defenders tried to explain this with phlogiston's "negative weight". Priestley defended phlogiston until his death. Hasok Chang argues that the phlogiston concept captured electrochemical phenomena and chemical potential energy in ways oxygen chemistry missed.

Claims

Evidence

Supporting

Experiment

The reduction of metal calxes (oxides) to metals by heating with charcoal could be explained as something passing from the charcoal to the metal.[2]

Challenging

Measurement

Weighings in closed vessels showed that metals gain weight on calcination and that part of the air is consumed.[3]

Positions

Hasok Chang (philosopher of science)
Phlogiston was abandoned prematurely and partly unjustly; the theory explained some phenomena the oxygen theory did not.[2]

Connections

Parent

Chemistry

Its place (in wide use) was taken by

Lavoisier and the conservation of mass

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Sources

  1. BookBecher, J. J.; Stahl, G. E. (ed.) (1703). Physica subterranea (with Specimen Beccherianum). Leipzig
  2. BookChang, H. (2012). Is Water H2O? Evidence, Realism and Pluralism. Springer, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 293DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3932-1archive
  3. BookLavoisier, A.-L. (1789). Traité élémentaire de chimie. Cuchet, Paris

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Phlogiston theory. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/flojiston/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_flojiston,
  title        = {Phlogiston theory},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/flojiston/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history

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