Why are both Alchemy and the Phlogiston theory wrong?

If you look these terms up in a dictionary you will begin to get some idea - for example in alchemy there was the belief that "base metals" could be turned into precious metals if the right elixir/stone (aka The Philosopher's Stone) was used.Phlogiston was the original theory about why some things caught fire - they could only do that if there was enough, and it was released when the substance caught fire. Now look up the definition of combustion.