(-) precedence

[Thomas Okken]

-2^2 = -4, that is the only correct answer.

I know that, for some reason, among computer types, there is this idea that unary minus should have higher precedence than exponentiation, but that is not how it works in the commonly used mathematical notation.

For example, look up the Taylor series for sine. It is typically shown like this:

\[ \sin(x) = \sum_{i=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^i}{(2 i + 1)!} x^{2 i + 1}\]

Note those parentheses around the -1. Those are not redundant.