Fink and Mao describe balance as "the extent to which the moves are well-mixed", citing a tighter knot that comes loose less easily as its primary virtue. It is calculated by a particular formula, but can be best understood by the layman as the degree to which the L, R, and C moves are evenly distributed throughout the knotting sequence, and the extent to which the L-R or R-L pattern continues uninterrupted after non-terminal centering moves (which requires a change of winding direction from counterclockwise to clockwise, or vice versa). Each of the aesthetic knots displays these qualities.