Physics Engine
A physics engine is a software library or system that simulates physical phenomena such as rigid body dynamics, collision detection, soft body physics, and fluid dynamics in real-time or offline applications. It provides mathematical models and algorithms to calculate the motion, interactions, and forces of objects in a virtual environment, enabling realistic behaviors like gravity, friction, and collisions. These engines are essential for creating immersive simulations in video games, virtual reality, robotics, and engineering applications.
Developers should learn and use physics engines when building applications that require realistic physical interactions, such as video games, simulations, or virtual training environments. They are crucial for implementing features like character movement, object collisions, vehicle dynamics, and environmental effects, enhancing user immersion and accuracy. For example, in game development, physics engines like Unity's built-in system or NVIDIA PhysX enable developers to create complex interactions without manually coding all physical laws.