8 is the chromosome number, q means the long arm of the chromosome, and the 24 is the position on the long arm. It's like coordinates to find the position on the chromosome.
The 'q' refers to the long arm of the chromosome. A prototypical condensed chromosome has two arms: a short arm and a long arm. The 'p' stands for the French word 'petit' (which means small). The 'q'...