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Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it Ireland

Find all real-valued functions ff satisfying
f(2x+f(y))+f(f(y))=4x+8y f(2x + f(y)) + f(f(y)) = 4x + 8y
for all real numbers xx and yy.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Letting y=0y = 0, we see that
f(2x+f(0))=4xf(0).(1) f(2x + f(0)) = 4x - f(0). \quad (1)
Replacing xx by (xf(0))/2(x - f(0))/2 above, we get
f(x)=2x+c,(2) f(x) = 2x + c, \quad (2)
where c=2f(0)f(0)c = -2f(0) - f(0). Thus,
f(f(x))=2(2x+c)+c=4x+3c.(3) f(f(x)) = 2(2x + c) + c = 4x + 3c. \quad (3)
Using (2) and (3) in the original functional equation, we get
2(2x+2y+c)+c+(4y+3c)=4x+8y, 2(2x + 2y + c) + c + (4y + 3c) = 4x + 8y,

and so c=0c = 0. Thus, f(x)2xf(x) \equiv 2x is the only solution.

Solution 2

Letting x=y=0x = y = 0, we see that f(f(0))+f(f(0))=0f(f(0)) + f(f(0)) = 0, thus
f(f(0))=0.(4) f(f(0)) = 0. \quad (4)
Substituting x=12f(0)x = -\frac{1}{2}f(0) and y=0y = 0 in the original equation and using (4),
we get f(0)=2f(0)f(0) = -2f(0), which implies
f(0)=0.(5) f(0) = 0. \quad (5)
Replacing xx by 12x\frac{1}{2}x and letting y=0y = 0 in the original equation and using (5),
we get
f(x)=2x. f(x) = 2x.
Because 2(2x+2y)+2(2y)=4x+8y2(2x + 2y) + 2(2y) = 4x + 8y this indeed is a solution.

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