When using a latch or flip-flop in normal circumstances (i.e., when the device’s setup and hold times are not being violated), the outputs will respond to a latch enable or clock pulse within some specified time. These are the propagation delays found in the data sheets. If, however, the setup and hold times are violated so that the data input is not a clear one or zero, there is a finite chance that the flip-flop will not immediately latch a High or Low, but get caught half way in between. This is the metastable state, and it is manifested in a bi-stable device by the outputs glitching, going into an undefined state somewhere between a High and Low, oscillating, or by the output transition being delayed for an indeterminable time. Once the flip-flop has entered the metastable state, the probability that it will still be metastable some time later has been shown to be an exponentially decreasing function. Because of this property, a designer can simply wait for some added time after the specified propagation delay before sampling the flip-flop output so that he can be assured that the likelihood of metastable failure is remote enough to be tolerable. On the other hand, one consequence of this is that there is some probability (albeit vanishingly small) that the device will remain in a metastable state forever. The designer needs to know the characteristics of metastability so that he can determine how long he must wait to achieve his design goals.