Final answer:
Breaking a bar magnet in half results in two smaller bar magnets, each with a north pole and a south pole, due to the inherent nature of magnetic dipoles.
Step-by-step explanation:
When breaking a bar magnet in half, the outcome is option C: two bar magnets, each with their own north pole and south pole. This is because magnetic poles always exist in pairs, otherwise known as a magnetic dipole, a phenomenon consistent from macroscopic to the atomic scale. No experiment has ever demonstrated the existence of magnetic monopoles; therefore, each fragment of a bar magnet always consists of both a north-seeking pole and a south-seeking pole.
Even if you continue to divide each piece of the bar magnet further, you will always end up with smaller bar magnets, each with a north pole and a south pole. This principle is demonstrated by suspended bar magnets, which show that one pole will always turn towards the north (north pole), and the opposite pole will face south (south pole).