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Exercise 1469Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Differentiation › Differentiable functionsOlympiadAdded 2 Nov 2026

A functional equation solved with derivatives

#functional equations#differentiation#polynomials

Statement

Find all differentiable functions f:R→Rf:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R} such that
f(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)+xyfor all x,y∈R.f(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)+xy\qquad\text{for all }x,y\in\mathbb{R}.

Hint

First find f(0)f(0). Then differentiate the identity with respect to xx, with yy fixed.

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Solution

Step 1. Taking x=y=0x=y=0: f(0)=2f(0)f(0)=2f(0), so f(0)=0f(0)=0.

Step 2: differentiating in xx. For fixed yy, f′(x+y)=f′(x)+yf'(x+y)=f'(x)+y. With x=0x=0: f′(y)=f′(0)+yf'(y)=f'(0)+y. Let a=f′(0)a=f'(0).

Step 3: integrating. f′(y)=a+yf'(y)=a+y means f(y)=ay+y22+Cf(y)=ay+\frac{y^2}2+C, and f(0)=0f(0)=0 gives C=0C=0. So f(x)=x22+axf(x)=\frac{x^2}2+ax.

Step 4: verification.
f(x+y)=(x+y)22+a(x+y)=x22+xy+y22+ax+ay=f(x)+f(y)+xy.f(x+y)=\frac{(x+y)^2}2+a(x+y)=\frac{x^2}2+xy+\frac{y^2}2+ax+ay=f(x)+f(y)+xy.

Answer. The solutions are exactly the functions f(x)=x22+axf(x)=\dfrac{x^2}2+ax, a∈Ra\in\mathbb{R}.

Remark. Another route: g(x)=f(x)−x22g(x)=f(x)-\frac{x^2}2 satisfies Cauchy's equation g(x+y)=g(x)+g(y)g(x+y)=g(x)+g(y), whose differentiable solutions are the linear functions.