Hey there,
The Law of Segregation. A parent may have two distinct alleles for a certain gene, each on one copy of a given chromosome. Mendel's second law, the law of segregation, states that these two alleles will be separated from each other during meiosis.
When a cell duplicates its DNA and divides twice to produce four gametes, or reproductive cells, the process is called meiosis. Most cells in the body are diploid, meaning they have two copies of each chromosome. But because gametes have gone through meiosis, they have one copy of each chromosome and are haploid. During sexual reproduction two gametes, called the egg and sperm, join together and form a diploid cell that will eventually become an individual organism. This diploid cell, called a zygote, received one copy of each chromosome from each parent. The appearance, or phenotype, of the new individual will depend on whether it inherited recessive or dominant copies of various alleles from its parents. Variant copies of genes are called alleles, and since plants and animals are diploid they have two alleles for each gene.
Hope this helps! -Alycia Larson