- #1
roeb
- 107
- 1
Homework Statement
If the integrand f(y, y', x) does not depend explicitly on x, that is, f = f(y, y') then
[tex]\frac{df}{dx} = \frac{\partial f}{\partial y}y' + \frac{ \partial f } {\partial y' } y''[/tex]Use the Euler-Lagrange equation to replace [tex]\partial f / \partial y[/tex] on the right and hence show that [tex]\frac{df}{dx} = \frac{d}{dx} ( y' \frac{\partial f}{\partial y'} ) [/tex]
Homework Equations
[tex]\frac{\partial f }{\partial y} = \frac{d}{dx} \frac{\partial f}{\partial y'}[/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
By substituting in for df/df, I get an extra term that I can't seem to make go away.
[tex]\frac{df}{dx} = \frac{d}{dx} y' \frac{ \partial f }{\partial y'} + \frac{\partial f}{\partial y'} y'' [/tex]
I can't seem to get rid of that extra term, it seems like it should be straight forward but...