In the field of computer graphics there are usually four general applications that one thinks of:
1. Display of Information
2. Design
3. Simulation and Animation
4. User interfaces
(Angel, 2)
With regards to applied physic's applications, the area of computer graphics most focused on is simulation and animation. This is found in several different fields such as "aerospace, manufacturing, wireless communication, resource recovery...film-making, computer games, and virtual reality. Moreover, physics-based modeling is now generally accepted as a third principal mode of scientific investigation, along with theory and experiment." (Mason)
The goal is to usually create 3-dimensional objects and have them move and interact on the screen using data based off of physic's equations(i.e kinematic equations, energy and momentum, etc.)
However often times programmer's and animators don't necesarrily want to deal with having to code in every equation everytime they want to have an object interact with something new. This brought forth the development of physic's engines.
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