I need to Show: Let$*$ be a commutative and associative binary operation on a set $S$. Assume that for every $x$ and $y$ in $S$, there exists $z$ in $S$ such that $x*z=y$.(This z may depend on $x$ and $y$.) Show that if $a,b,c$ are in $S$ and ac=bc, then $a=b$.

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There's an archive of Putnam problems with solutions: https://kskedlaya.org/putnam-archive/ – the_fox Nov 12 '18 at 10:27
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Suppose ac=bc. Find $x,y$ so that $acx=a$ and $ay=b$. Then $$a=acx=bcx=aycx=acxy=ay=b.$$
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