Implicit order describes the state of a system when certain information or characteristics are present but not apparent through direct inspection.
Implicit order may be demonstrated using laminar flow. The gap between two concentric glass cylinders is filled with glycerin, and a drop of ink placed therein. When the outer cylinder is turned, the drop is drawn out into a thread that eventually becomes so thin that it is not visible. At this point the ink molecules are said to be "enfolded" in the glycerin. The hidden characteristic is the presence of the ink in thin spiral layers. If the cylinder is turned in the opposite direction, the thread reforms into a drop—changing the state of the system in order to reveal the hidden information.
Famous quotes containing the words implicit and/or order:
“The true colour of life is the colour of the body, the colour of the covered red, the implicit and not explicit red of the living heart and the pulses. It is the modest colour of the unpublished blood.”
—Alice Meynell (1847–1922)
“It is necessary, in order to know things well, to know the particulars of them; and these, being infinite, make our knowledge ever superficial and imperfect.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)