Help with derivation of euler-lagrange equations

teeeeee
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Hi,

I am trying to follow a derivation of the euler lagrange equations in one of my textbooks. It says that

\int ( f\frac{dL}{dx} + f'\frac{dL}{dx'}) dt

=

f\frac{dL}{dx'} + \int f ( \frac{dL}{dx} - \frac{d}{dt}(\frac{dL}{dx'}) ) dt

where f is an arbitrary function and L is the Lagrangian.I'm not sure how to perform this step. I think it has something to do with integration by parts but can't work it out. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
teeeeee
 
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The integral over f (dL/dx) can be ignored, it simply sits in both expressions. So your question is, how do you get from

\int \frac{df}{dt} \frac{dL}{dx'}
to
f \frac{dL}{dx'} - \int f \frac{d}{dt} \frac{dL}{dx'}

right?
Because that is just partial integration in its purest form:
\int f' g = f g - \int f g'
where g = dL/dx'.
 

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