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I know most scientists don't believe in phlogiston. But I was thinking about it. If there's no phlogiston, doesn't that violate the law of conservation of energy? When something burns, where does the heat and light come from?

LeftCoast

Change that to "No scientists believe in phlogiston" and you're correct. (At least no scientist who has practiced within the past 200 years or so.)

Why do you need phlogiston - burning is just the breaking of high(er) energy chemical bonds in favor of lower energy chemical bonds, the excess energy is detected as "heat and light" but then "heat and light" are just different frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. Energy is conserved.