Table 1. Comparison between measured tip-sample Interaction values in case of pristine nanoparticle samples, as shown in figure 4, and single particle expectation values as theoretically derived from equations 4 and 7. For the single particle calculations the experimental tip-sample parameters have been used (m_m = 3*10⁻19 Am²; m_t = 1*10⁻16 Am²; H = 20 nm; A_{SP =} 85 nm; z₀≈52 nm). The third column contains the ratio between experimental data and single particle expectation values, allowing for a direct estimation of the number of particles involved in the interaction.

Signal	Measured Value (from figure 4b,c)	Single particle expectation value	Ratio (particles)
Force gradient	375 μN/m	48 μN/m	∼8
Energy loss	15 eV	150 meV	∼100