The chromosome pairs align independently of one another. Therefore, the number of different combinations of chromosomes in the daughter cells is equal to 2n, where n = the haploid number of chromosomes (or the number of chromosome pairs). In this example there are two chromosomes, so there are 22 = 4 different chromosome combinations in the daughter cells. If we look at the whole human genetic complement (n = 23), the number of different combinations is 223 = 8,388,608. Due only to the independent assortment of chromosomes in meiosis I, over 8 million genetically distinct gametes can be produced.
When making these computations, calculate the number of possibilities using the number of chromosome pairs, not the total number of chromosomes