1. What is a Punnett Square?

A Punnett square is a simple way to predict the possible genetic combinations when two parents pass their genes to their offspring. It's named after Reginald Punnett, who invented this method.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the probability formula:

Where:

• \( P \) — Probability of the target trait
• \( F \) — Number of favorable combinations
• \( T \) — Total number of possible combinations (always 4 for simple traits)

Example: For two parents with Aa genotype, the probability of AA offspring is 1/4 or 25%.

3. Understanding Genetic Probability

Details: Each parent contributes one allele (gene version) to their offspring. Dominant alleles (capital letters) usually show up in the offspring even if there's only one copy.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter genotypes using letters A/a or B/b. For example:

• AA - homozygous dominant
• Aa - heterozygous
• aa - homozygous recessive

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Why do we use capital and small letters?
A: Capital letters represent dominant traits, while small letters represent recessive traits.

Q2: What's the difference between genotype and phenotype?
A: Genotype is the genetic code (like AA), while phenotype is what you see (like brown eyes).

Q3: Can we use this for eye color?
A: Simple eye color models use this, but real eye color is more complex with multiple genes.

Q4: What does 25% probability mean?
A: It means there's 1 chance in 4 of getting that combination, like rolling a specific number on a die.

Q5: Why are some boxes in the square the same?
A: Some combinations can happen in multiple ways (like getting A from mom and a from dad, or a from mom and A from dad).