The way I\'ve been told to look at the classifications is to look at their limitations. For example, Arrhenius acids contain H and release H+ in water; this is the strict limitation of an Arrhenius acid. Here is a chart to help with this => Arrhenius =>acids => contain H and release H+ in water =>bases => contain OH and release OH- in water. => Example => HF is an Arrhenius acid because it releases, or gives away, it\'s H+ proton. => HF(acid) + H2O(base) => (H30+)(acid) + F-(base) I wrote (acid) or (base) to distinguish which is the acid and which is the base because some molecules are amphoteric => Bronsted-Lowry => acids => \"proton donors,\" must contain H => bases => \"proton acceptors,\" must contain a lone pair to bind to the H+ => Example => NH3 is a BL base because it has a lone pair to \"accept\" the H+ => NH3(base) + H2O(acid) => (NH4+) + OH-(base) => Can you see the difference between a BL base (NH3) and an Arrhenius base?? The BL base doesn\'t have an OH, nor does it release an OH- in water. That\'s why acids/bases are classified under which restrictions they follow. NH3 is a BL base, but not an Arrhenius base. => Lewis => this type of definition allows a lot more molecules to be acids or base, due to its restrictions => acids => electron pair acceptors, must have a vacant orbital in order to accept the elctron pair from the base => bases => electron pair donors, must contain an electron pair to donate => Notice how the Lewis acids and bases are \"opposite\" of the BL definitions => Example => metal cations are Lewis acids because they have vacant orbitals in their valence shells (Al3+, Fe3+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Ag+,...) =>Example => F- is a Lewis base because F has 7 valence electrons with one of them being by itself; F- has 8 valence elctrons, which creates a lone pair from the lone electron from F => So to answer your questions, it\'s all about the restrictions of each defintition. If an Arrhenius acid has an H+ proton to give away, that acid is also a BL acid. => Conclusion => The Lewis definition has the widest scope of the three acid-base defintions, while the Arrhenius definition has the narrowest. => When classifying the molecules as Lewis, Arrhenius, or BL acids or bases, you must remember the restrictions each defintion has Hope this helps!!! Solution The way I\'ve been told to look at the classifications is to look at their limitations. For example, Arrhenius acids contain H and release H+ in water; this is the strict limitation of an Arrhenius acid. Here is a chart to help with this => Arrhenius =>acids => contain H and release H+ in water =>bases => contain OH and release OH- in water. => Example => HF is an Arrhenius acid because it releases, or gives away, it\'s H+ proton. => HF(acid) + H2O(base) => (H30+)(acid) + F-(base) I wrote (acid) or (base) to distinguish which is the acid and which is the base because some molecules are amphoteric => Bronsted-Lowry => acids => \"proton donors,\" must contain H => bases => \"proton a.