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phlogiston
chemical theory
- Key People:
- Joseph Priestley
- Georg Ernst Stahl
- Richard Kirwan
- Related Topics:
- combustion
- calx
phlogiston, in early chemical theory, hypothetical principle of fire, of which every combustible substance was in part composed. In this view, the phenomena of burning, now called oxidation, was caused by the liberation of phlogiston, with the dephlogisticated substance left as an ash or residue. Johann Joachim Becher in 1669 set forth his view that substances contained three kinds of earth, which he called the vitrifiable, the mercurial, and the combustible. He supposed that, when a substance burned, combustible earth (Latin terra pinguis, meaning “fat earth”) was liberated. Thus, wood was a combination of phlogiston and wood ashes. To this ...(100 of 343 words)