Formulas have been developed to calculate the forces in a molecular system directly, rather than indirectly through the agency of energy. This permits an independent calculation of the slope of the curves of energy vs. position of the nuclei, and may thus increase the accuracy, or decrease the labor involved in the calculation of these curves. The force on a nucleus in an atomic system is shown to be just the classical electrostatic force that would be exerted on this nucleus by other nuclei and by the electrons' charge distribution. Qualitative implications of this are discussed.
Richard P. Feynman (1939) studied this question.