Find all functions f:R→R so that (x+y)(f(x)−f(y))=(x−y)f(x+y) for all x,y∈R.
Solution
Suppose that f is a solution. Let a=21(f(1)−f(−1)),b=21(f(1)+f(−1)) and g(x)=f(x)−ax−bx2. Then (x+y)(g(x)−g(y))=(x−y)g(x+y) and g(1)=g(−1)=0. Letting y=1 and y=−1 above give (x+1)g(x)xg(x+1)=(x−1)g(x+1)=(x+2)g(x). Thus x(x+1)g(x)=x(x−1)g(x+1)=(x−1)(x+2)g(x) for all x. So g(x)=0 for all x. Hence f(x)=ax+bx2. We can check directly that any function of this form (for some a,b∈R) satisfies the given equation.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.
Source: MathNet,
licensed CC-BY-4.0.
Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.