The C
Good hypothesis, but scent has a silent 'c'.
In the word "scent," neither the s nor the c is silent. Both letters contribute to the pronunciation of the word.
The C
There are some rules to silent C: 1.) When the C is followed by an E, I or Y, then it'll become a soft C, which means the C will sound like an S. However, in the soft C case, if the S is followed by a C, then the C becomes silent. 2.) When the CQ are together, then the C becomes silent. 3.) If the N follows a C at the beginning of the word, then the C become silent. However, there are some exceptions to the silent C rule. Here are some examples of silent C: 1.) Scissor 2.) Science 3.) Ascend 4.) Descend 5.) Crescent 6.) Fascinated 7.) Scene 8.) Scenery 9.) Scenario 10.) Scent 11.) Acquire 12.) Acquit 13.) Acquaintance 14.) Muscle 15.) Cnidarian 16.) Discipline 17.) Conscious 18.) Obscene 19.) Cnidoblast
No, "muscle" does not contain a silent consonant. The "c" is pronounced as an "s" sound, but it is not silent. The word is pronounced as "muhs-uhl."
The word "island" has a silent "s."
The final E is silent. The letter pair SC has an S sound, so C could be considered "silent" -- however, either an S alone or a C alone could have the S sound when follow by E, as in seen or centennial.
Which letter is silent in the word debris? The "s" is not pronounced.
Which letter is silent in the word debris? The "s" is not pronounced.
In the word "horn," the letter "h" is silent.
The 's' ending the word Illinois is a silent 's'.
The first letter C could be considered silent in the sense that it doesn't really change the pronunciation of the S that it follows; the final E is also silent. You could get the same pronunciation if the word was spelled siens. But we're used to science.