One of the more hilarious (in hindsight) explanations of Phlogiston theory is why a candle eventually goes out if you put a bowl over it. We now know that it g

One of the more hilarious (in hindsight) explanations of Phlogiston theory is why a candle eventually goes out if you put a bowl over it. We now know that it goes out because the reaction runs out of combustible oxygen. Since according to Phlogiston theory combustion involved a substance called Phlogiston being given off , they reasoned the candle went out because a given volume of air could only hold a given amount of Phlogiston. They even tried to calculate the "maximum capacity of phlogisticated air". However they weren't entirely wrong they just got it backwards. Phlogiston is basically minus oxygen. :) . So it spurred research in the right direction and eventually got us to the "more correct" explanation.