What happens to the magnetic field when a magnet is broken in half?

When a magnet is broken in half, both pieces become individual magnets with their own north and south poles. This is a fundamental property of magnets: they have a dipole structure, meaning they always possess both a north and a south pole.

When a magnet is divided, the magnetic domains within the material rearrange themselves. The atoms in the magnet are aligned in such a way that their magnetic fields reinforce each other. When the magnet is cut, each piece has enough material to maintain this alignment, allowing it to develop its own poles. Therefore, you end up with two smaller magnets, each with a north pole and a south pole, rather than losing the magnetic property altogether or having one piece retain it while the other does not. This phenomenon illustrates the permanence of magnetic properties at a microscopic scale, regardless of how the magnet is physically altered.