placement of the negative sign on charges

[Jared_Yuge]

is it 2- or -2 I've seen it both ways and idk if one is right and why

[Jiyoon_Hwang_2I]

They're both correct. Both ways indicate a negative 2 charge.

[Karyn How 1J]

I think 2- is used more often especially when for the chemical formulas but if you're drawing a Lewis structure and you're just labeling the charge on the side I don't think it matters too much.

[Maya Serota 3G]

The standard nomenclature for writing the charge of an ion says to follow the number with the sign i.e. 2+

[Elizabeth Harty 1A]

I'm pretty sure it matters which way you say it and they can't be rude interchangeably but I might be wrong...