Question

A male and a female have 23 pairs of chromosomes then why not the offspring have 46 pairs of chromosomes

Answer 1

The male and female have 23 pair of chromosomes each but their gametes have only 23 chromosomes each. It is because the gametes are formed by the process called meiosis, which is a reduction division in which the the 46 chromosomes are halved to 23 chromosomes. As a result the sperm and egg will contain only 23 chromosomes each. Offspring is formed due to fusion of the male and female gamete. As a result the 23 chromosomes of male gametes fuses with the 23 chromosomes of the female gamete to form an offspring which has 46 gametes.

Hence a male and female having 46 chromosomes each will get a child having 46 chromosomes

Hope it will help u.