A computer model based on the elastic properties of rubber is introduc
ed for the evaluation of the lateral resolution in atomic force micros
copy of deformable specimens. The computational results show that, if
the full width at half-height can be defined as the lateral resolution
, it is continuously improved at greater probe forces, at the expense
of a reduced molecular height. In fact, even for a probe that is bigge
r than the molecule, the real size of the molecule can be 'recovered'
at about 25% compression. This result demonstrates that for a better l
ateral resolution, a greater probe force can be beneficial, provided t
hat the molecule is not moved or damaged and the response remains elas
tic. Measurements on isolated low-density lipoproteins (LDL) show that
with 26% vertical compression, the lateral size measured in atomic fo
rce microscopy is only about 72% of the value predicted by a simple co
nvolution and is only slightly larger (approximate to 13%) than the kn
own size of LDL. Therefore, the results on LDL provide a direct suppor
t for the conclusions of the computational model.