The activation energy, vibrational frequency, and surface-diffusion jumps of a single adatom on a perfect (111) surface were studied using the embedded-atom method. The activation energy was determined with a conjugate gradient energy-minimization procedure. The surface adatom was moved in steps across the (111) plane through a saddle point. The adatom position was fixed within (parallel to) the (111) plane; but, the Ag adatom was free to relax, normal to the (111) plane. In this way the adatom was free to ride up over the saddle point; so that at each fixed position within the (111) plane the Ag adatom was free to move to its minimum energy. Also all of the atoms within the Ag crystal were free to relax to minimum-energy positions as the Ag adatom was moved across the surface. The minimum activation energy calculated for adatom diffusion was 0.058 eV. The embedded-atom method was also combined with a molecular dynamics simulation to observe the vibrations of the surface atoms and the adatom and to observe surface-diffusion jumps of the adatom. The adatom jumped to new surface sites at a frequency of approximately 1 × 1012 jumps s−1 at a temperature of 700 K.