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Algebra Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Let R+\mathbb{R}^{+} be the set of positive real numbers. Find all functions f:R+R+f:\mathbb{R}^{+}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}^{+} such that, for all x,yR+x, y \in \mathbb{R}^{+} , f(xy+f(x))=xf(y)+2f(xy + f(x)) = xf(y) + 2

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Make the following substitutions to the equation:
1. (x,1)f(x+f(x))=xf(1)+2(x, 1) \rightarrow f(x + f(x)) = xf(1) + 2
2. (1,x+f(x))f(x+f(x)+f(1))=f(x+f(x))+2=xf(1)+4(1, x + f(x)) \rightarrow f(x + f(x) + f(1)) = f(x + f(x)) + 2 = xf(1) + 4
3. (x,1+f(1)x)f(x+f(x)+f(1))=xf(1+f(1)x)+2(x, 1 + \frac{f(1)}{x}) \rightarrow f(x + f(x) + f(1)) = xf\biggl(1 + \frac{f(1)}{x}\biggr) + 2
It then follows from (2) and (3) that f(1+f(1)x)=f(1)+2xf(1 + \frac{f(1)}{x}) = f(1) + \frac{2}{x} , so we know that this function is linear for x>1x > 1 . Substitute f(x)=ax+bf(x) = ax+b and solve for aa and bb in the functional equation; we find that f(x)=x+1x>1f(x) = x + 1 \forall x > 1 .
Now, we can let x>1x > 1 and y1y \le 1 . Since f(x)=x+1f(x) = x + 1 , xy+f(x)>x>1xy + f(x) > x > 1 , so f(xy+f(x))=xy+x+2=xf(y)+2f(xy + f(x)) = xy + x + 2 = xf(y) + 2 . It becomes clear then that f(y)=y+1f(y) = y + 1 as well, so f(x)=x+1f(x) = x + 1 is the only solution to the functional equation.
~jkmmm3

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