Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 1 / 8 / b / Solution

The Wronskian isSuppose constants $A,B$ satisfy $Af+Bg=0$ throughout the interval. Differentiating gives $A{f}^{\prime }+B{g}^{\prime }=0$. At $x_0$, these form the homogeneous linear systemIts determinant is nonzero by hypothesis, so $A=B=0$. This is exactly linear independence of the two functions on the interval. No differential equation is needed for this implication; the converse for arbitrary differentiable functions would require additional hypotheses.