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A '''physics processing unit''' ('''PPU''') is a dedicated [[microprocessor]] designed to handle the calculations of [[physics]], especially in the [[physics engine]] of [[video game]]s.
Examples of calculations involving a PPU might include [[rigid body dynamics]], [[soft body dynamics]], [[collision detection]], [[fluid dynamics]], hair and [[Cloth_modeling|clothing simulation]], [[finite element analysis]], and fracturing of objects.
The idea is that specialized processors offload time consuming tasks from a computer's CPU, much like how a [[GPU]] performs graphics operations in the main CPU's place. The term was coined by [[Ageia]] to describe its [[PhysX]] chip. Several other technologies in the CPU-GPU spectrum have some features in common with it, although Ageia's product was the only complete one designed, marketed, supported, and placed within a system exclusively as a PPU.
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