In problem 16(c) of chapter 1 of Calculus, Spivak asks the reader to determine the conditions under which the expression $(x + y)^4$ equals $x^4 + y^4$. Clearly,
$ (x + y)^4 = x^4 + y^4 \Leftrightarrow x = 0 \vee y = 0 \vee 4x^2 + 6xy + 4y^2 = 0 $
From the preceding problem, we know that $0 \leq 4x^2 + 6xy + 4y^2$. If $x = 0$ and $y = 0$ then $4x^2 + 6xy + 4y^2 = 0$. If either $x = 0$ and $y \neq 0$ or $x \neq 0$ and $y = 0$ then $0 < 4x^2 + 6xy + 4y^2$. I want to show that if $x \neq 0$ and $y \neq 0$ then $0 < 4x^2 + 6xy + 4y^2$, which is intuitively true. In order to show that $0 < 4x^2 + 6xy + 4y^2$, it suffices to show that $6xy < 4x^2 + 4y^2$, but I'm not sure how to demonstrate that this inequality is true. I would presumably derive it from the ordered field axioms in conjunction with the local assumptions of the problem.