[8,0
0,2].
Therefore the critical point found in Problem 1 is a minimum.
[cos(t),-r*sin(t),0
sin(t),r*cos(t),0
0,0,1].
The determinant is r.
(-x/(x^2+y^2+z^2)^(3/2),-y/(x^2+y^2+z^2)^(3/2),-z/(x^2+y^2+z^2)^(3/2)).
f = (x^2+y^2+z^2)^(-1/2) + C(y,z).
Here C(y,z) is some function which is constant with respect to $x$. Differentiating this equation with respect to y we get
f_y = -y/(x^2+y^2+z^2)^(3/2) + C_y(y,z).
But since we already know that f_y = -y/(x^2+y^2+z^2)^(3/2)
we get that C_y(y,z) = 0. A similar argument shows that C_z(y,z) = 0. Thus C = C(y,z) is also constant with respect to y and z. The conclusion is that any potential function has the form
f = (x^2+y^2+z^2)^(-1/2) + C.
One can check by differentiation that any function of this form is a potential function.