But is the ratio exact? (hint: NO)
As you probably know, ANY dihybrid cross will give you the same result - a 9:3:3:1 ratio.
Does that mean that if two wild-type parents have exactly 16 kids, they are guaranteed exactly and no more than one super-superhero? Of course not. But it is likely that they will have kids in approximately these ratios.
In the applet below, "A" and "B" are dominant alleles, and "a" and "b" are recessive alleles. The Punnett Square shows a dihybrid cross.
Each time you click on "make one kid", a single offspring will be generated; you can see the mother's and father's contributions on the Punnett Square, and the kid's phenotype will get recorded on the bar chart. After you have made at least 5 kids, you can fill in the rest by clicking "add lots of kids".
The hollow bars on the bar chart show the ideal 9:3:3:1 ratio for 160 kids. ... are the actual proportions exactly 9:3:3:1? Why or why not? Try clearing and adding all the kids a few times. How close can you get to the ideal? Or how far?
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