This article describes a method for extracting the true tip-sample potential from an experimental force curve in atomic force microscopy. This potential is not the negative integral of the force curve, Rather, the potential is a more complicated function of the force curve and cantilever spring constant, Lf information about the shape of the tip is known, a decorrelation may be performed to extract molecular pair potentials from the total tip-sample potential. Applications and limitations of this method are discussed.