Alleles refer to different variants of the same gene.
For example, the gene that determines flower color in garden peas has two alleles. The dominant allele produces a purple-colored flower, whereas, the recessive allele gives rise to a white-colored flower.
When genes exist on different chromosomes, they tend to assort independently during recombination.
Alleles can be present on the same chromosome. In such cases, these alleles don’t assort independently and are passed on to the gametes as a unit.