Editing Physics engine (section)

{{short description|Software for approximate simulation of physical systems}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2010}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Physics engine
| screenshot             = PhysicsEngine.ogv
| caption                = <!-- Since this is NOT a real caption, override text "center" --><div style= "text-align: left;">These are four examples of a physics engine simulating an object falling onto a slope. The examples differ in accuracy of the simulation:
# No physics
# [[Gravity]], no collision detection
# Gravity and [[collision detection]], no rigid body dynamics
# Gravity, collision detection and rotation calculations</div>
| screenshot size        = 
| screenshot alt         = 
| genre                  = 
}}

A '''physics engine''' is [[computer software]] that provides an approximate [[Computer simulation|simulation]] of certain [[physical system]]s, typically [[classical dynamics]], including [[rigid body dynamics]] (including [[collision detection]]), [[soft body dynamics]], and [[Fluid simulation|fluid dynamics]]. It is of use in the domains of [[computer graphics]], [[video game]]s and film ([[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]]). Their main uses are in video games (typically as [[game middleware|middleware]]), in which case the simulations are in [[Real-time simulation|real-time]]. The term is sometimes used more generally to describe any [[software system]] for simulating physical phenomena, such as [[High-performance computing|high-performance scientific simulation]].