<s>[INST] For odd $m\ge3$, does it follow: $\frac{x^m + y^m}{x+y} + (xy)\frac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y} = x^{m-1} + y^{m-1}$ Unless I am making a mistake, I am calculating that:
$$\frac{x^m + y^m}{x+y} + (xy)\frac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y} = x^{m-1} + y^{m-1}$$
Here's my reasoning:


*

*$\dfrac{x^m + y^m}{x+y} = x^{m-1} - x^{m-2}y - xy^{m-2} + x^{m-3}y^2 + x^2y^{m-3} + \dots + x^{\frac{m-1}{2}}y^{\frac{m-1}{2}} + y^{m-1}$

*$\dfrac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y} = x^{m-3} - x^{m-4}y - xy^{m-4} + x^{m-5}y^2 + x^2y^{m-5} + \dots + x^{\frac{m-3}{2}}y^{\frac{m-3}{2}} + y^{m-3}$

*$(xy)\dfrac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y} = x^{m-2}y - x^{m-3}y^2 - x^2y^{m-3} + x^{m-4}y^3 + x^3y^{m-4} + \dots + x^{\frac{m-1}{2}}y^{\frac{m-1}{2}} + xy^{m-2}$

*So that, $\dfrac{x^m + y^m}{x+y} + (xy)\dfrac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y} = x^{m-1} + y^{m-1}$

*I am figuring that $\dfrac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y}$ has exactly 2 terms less than $\dfrac{x^m + y^m}{x+y}$
Is this reasoning correct?  For each value that I test, it seems correct.
Thanks,
-Larry
 [/INST] Well, I would do it that way : 
$$ x^m = x\ x^{m-1} $$
So : 
$$\begin{align}\frac{x^m + y^m}{x+y} + (xy)\frac{x^{m-2} + y^{m-2}}{x+y} &= \frac{x^m + y^m+ (xy)\ x^{m-2} + (xy)\ y^{m-2}}{x+y} \\
&=\frac{x^m + y^m+ y\ x^{m-1} + x\ y^{m-1}}{x+y} \\
&=\frac{ x\ x^{m-1} + y\ y^{m-1}+ y\ x^{m-1} + x\ y^{m-1}}{x+y}\\
&=\frac{ (x+y)\ x^{m-1} + (x+y)\ y^{m-1}}{x+y}\\
&=  x^{m-1} + y^{m-1}\end{align}$$
</s>