Adopting the empirical silicon interatomic potential of Stillinger and Weber, we investigate the effect of the tip profile on the atomic-force microscope images for a prototype system, Si(001)-(2×1), and conclude that the tip profile has a profound effect on the observations. We also study relaxation of the surface under the influence of the tip using a many-body energy minimization procedure and find that the force exerted by the tip should be less than 10-9 N for the atomic-force microscope to be a nondestructive tool. © 1988 The American Physical Society.