Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-90.244.94.220-20141004224535/@comment-4621372-20141009021850

I know that ions aren't protons... i said that H+ ions are protons.

There are 4 definitions of Acids and bases- Arrhenius, Bronsted-Lowry, Lewis, and Boyle.

Boyle's is never used, because it's old, and it was made when people knew what acids and bases were but not how they worked.

Lewis is also rarely used, in that case simply because Bronsted-Lowry and Arrhenius are simpler to understand and to experiment with.

Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry are the two most popular versions, with the latter being used most often. Arrhenius is the first truly rigorous definition of acids and bases, predating all but Boyle, which is why it's popular, but most scientists nowadays will use what I did- Bronsted-Lowry.