Abstract
A new formula for the gravitational potential for the case of steady state and axial symmetry is proposed. It is a generalization of the Miyamoto-Nagai formula, in that there is a fraction containing the terms of this formula in both the numerator and denominator. The number of independent parameters in the new formula is four. The formula can be applied to both weakly flattened and substantially flattened stellar systems (subsystems). However, in applying the new formula to an exponential disk, requiring the total mass to be equal, negative density values cannot be avoided completely. This concerns especially the positions off the midplane.
