So basically what Zaps are, are a tip with an 'event' added to them.

Easiest example I can come up with is if you tip, nothing is recorded on Nostr. You just did a P2P transaction with another user.

If you 'Zap', the client you're using (in my case Amethyst) can show who tipped what post & for how much and that amount will be compiled with all of the other tips you might have received on the note you posted so you can see how well a note that you created was received.

Another cool thing you could do, in theory, with Zaps is combine 'Zaps' with 'Likes' & a user could receive a set amount of sats every time you hit the like button on their note.

Make sense?