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Algebra Difficulty 4.8 AIME Prove it Estonia

Find all real-valued functions ff defined on real numbers which satisfy f(f(x)+f(y))=f(x)+yf(f(x) + f(y)) = f(x) + y for all real x,yx, y.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Let z1,z2z_1, z_2 be real numbers for which f(z1)=f(z2)f(z_1) = f(z_2). Substituting y=z1y = z_1 and y=z2y = z_2 into the given equation we get f(f(x)+f(z1))=f(x)+z1f(f(x) + f(z_1)) = f(x) + z_1, and f(f(x)+f(z2))=f(x)+z2f(f(x) + f(z_2)) = f(x) + z_2. Since the left hand sides are equal, we have f(x)+z1=f(x)+z2f(x) + z_1 = f(x) + z_2, whence z1=z2z_1 = z_2. Hence ff is one-to-one. Substituting y=0y = 0 into the given equation we get f(f(x)+f(0))=f(x)f(f(x) + f(0)) = f(x) for any real xx. Since ff is one-to-one, we have f(x)+f(0)=xf(x) + f(0) = x. If x=0x = 0, then the last equation gives 2f(0)=02f(0) = 0, or f(0)=0f(0) = 0. So this equation simplifies to f(x)=xf(x) = x. The function f(x)=xf(x) = x satisfies the original equation.

Solution 2

Interchanging xx and yy in the given equation we get f(f(y)+f(x))=f(y)+xf(f(y) + f(x)) = f(y) + x. Since the left hand side is the same as in the original equation, we have f(x)+y=f(y)+xf(x) + y = f(y) + x. Substituting y=0y = 0 into this we get f(x)=x+f(0)f(x) = x + f(0). Substituting into the original equation all applications of ff according to the last equality, we get x+f(0)+y+f(0)+f(0)=x+f(0)+yx + f(0) + y + f(0) + f(0) = x + f(0) + y. This gives f(0)=0f(0) = 0 and from f(x)=x+f(0)f(x) = x + f(0) we get f(x)=xf(x) = x.

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