# How to force a page break in the middle of a paragraph?

I tried suggesting in the middle of a paragraph that LaTeX break the page using \pagebreak. However, LaTeX is ignoring my suggestion. Is there a way I can make LaTeX break this paragraph sooner than it wants to?

Here's an example of what I'm talking about (I couldn't get the margins to be 1 in in this example for some reason). Sorry for the messy filler -- I copied it out of my thesis, because I'm afraid the equations or figure might have something to do with why the pagebreak isn't working. Scroll to the bottom to see the paragraph in which I attempt the pagebreak.

\documentclass[12pt, letterpaper] {article}
\usepackage[margin=1in, showframe, pass]{geometry}  % one inch margins
\renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{2}  % double space, safe for fancy headers
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amssymb, amsmath, float,caption}
\usepackage{amsfonts}

\begin{document}

%%% ------------- FILLER: IGNORE --------------

\noindent
Here, $\text{rx}$ and $\text{tx}$ denote the endpoints of signal propagation and $s$ is the signal path.  Using expressions 1 and 2 to expand $X$, this becomes:
%
$$I %\approx \int_{\text{rx}}^{\text{tx}} - \frac{1}{2} X \ ds = -\frac{\kappa}{f^2} \int_{\text{rx}}^{\text{tx}} N_e \ ds \label{ionosphere-effect}$$
\noindent
where $\kappa = \frac{e^2}{8\pi^2\epsilon_0 m_e} \approx 40.3$.

Total electron content (TEC) is defined to be the integrated quantity of the free-electron density (i.e.\ plasma density) $N_e$ along some path.  The expression for the first-order ionosphere effect in Equation 3 contains the expression for TEC, which is:
%
$$\text{TEC} = \int_{\text{rx}}^{\text{tx}} N_e \ ds \label{tec-definition}$$
It is usually convenient to express TEC in TEC units, where $1 \text{TECu} = 1\times10^{16} \frac{\text{electrons}}{m^2}$.  As such, we define $\kappa_u = \kappa \times 10^{16}$ and express $I$ as:
%
$$I = -\frac{\kappa_u}{f^2} \text{TECu} \label{tecu-eqn}$$

\subsection{Geomagnetic Field}

%%% ------------- PAGEBREAK IN NEXT PP (not working) --------------

Expressions for the phase refractive index in equations 4 and 5 reveal that an
important aspect of the ionosphere is that it lies within influence of Earth's
\pagebreak magnetic field.  The so-called geomagnetic field is a
magnetic dipole with field lines leaving near the geographic South pole
and entering near the geographic North pole.  The orientation of a radio
wave vector relative to these field lines plays a role in determining higher-
order terms for ionosphere propagation error.  This field is also
important because it constrains the movement of ionosphere plasma.  The
charged plasma particles move more freely parallel to the magnetic field,
so density structures in the plasma tend to spread out along field lines [6].
\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
%\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{../img/geomagnetic-field.png}
\caption[Geomagnetic field lines.]{Depicts how the ionosphere is embedded in Earth's geomagnetic field. Note how field lines leave Earth from the geographic South pole and enter through the geographic North pole.  The magnetic inclination, which is the angle between the magnetic field vector and the tangent to Earth's surface, changes continuously over latitude with values of $\pm 90^\circ$ at the geomagnetic South/North poles and $0^\circ$ at the geomagnetic equator. \label{geomagnetic-field}}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

• Could you paste a sample document showing your problem? \pagebreak (without parameters) inserts a penalty of 10000 which really should break the page. Jul 22, 2017 at 4:12
• It occurs in the middle of my 80-page thesis, but I will try to replicate the situation in a sample document. Jul 22, 2017 at 4:23
• Post the MWE of your code... Jul 22, 2017 at 4:30
• As far as I can see, there are two contradictory requests here: LaTeX won't leave just one line following a sectional title on a page, whereas you want the page is broken exactly there. This can't work. Jul 22, 2017 at 7:07

You placed the \pagebreak too late:

\documentclass[12pt, letterpaper] {article}
\usepackage[margin=1in, showframe, pass]{geometry}  % one inch margins
\renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{2}  % double space, safe for fancy headers
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amssymb, amsmath, float,caption}
\usepackage{amsfonts}

\begin{document}

%%% ------------- FILLER: IGNORE --------------

\noindent
Here, $\text{rx}$ and $\text{tx}$ denote the endpoints of signal propagation and $s$ is the signal path.  Using expressions 1 and 2 to expand $X$, this becomes:
%
$$I %\approx \int_{\text{rx}}^{\text{tx}} - \frac{1}{2} X \ ds = -\frac{\kappa}{f^2} \int_{\text{rx}}^{\text{tx}} N_e \ ds \label{ionosphere-effect}$$
\noindent
where $\kappa = \frac{e^2}{8\pi^2\epsilon_0 m_e} \approx 40.3$.

Total electron content (TEC) is defined to be the integrated quantity of the free-electron density (i.e.\ plasma density) $N_e$ along some path.  The expression for the first-order ionosphere effect in Equation 3 contains the expression for TEC, which is:
%
$$\text{TEC} = \int_{\text{rx}}^{\text{tx}} N_e \ ds \label{tec-definition}$$
It is usually convenient to express TEC in TEC units, where $1 \text{TECu} = 1\times10^{16} \frac{\text{electrons}}{m^2}$.  As such, we define $\kappa_u = \kappa \times 10^{16}$ and express $I$ as:
%
$$I = -\frac{\kappa_u}{f^2} \text{TECu} \label{tecu-eqn}$$

\subsection{Geomagnetic Field}

%%% ------------- PAGEBREAK IN NEXT PP (not working) --------------

Expressions for the phase refractive index in equations 4 and 5 reveal that an
important \pagebreak aspect of the ionosphere is that it lies within influence of Earth's
magnetic field.  The so-called geomagnetic field is a
magnetic dipole with field lines leaving near the geographic South pole
and entering near the geographic North pole.  The orientation of a radio
wave vector relative to these field lines plays a role in determining higher-
order terms for ionosphere propagation error.  This field is also
important because it constrains the movement of ionosphere plasma.  The
charged plasma particles move more freely parallel to the magnetic field,
so density structures in the plasma tend to spread out along field lines [6].
\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
%\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{../img/geomagnetic-field.png}
\caption[Geomagnetic field lines.]{Depicts how the ionosphere is embedded in Earth's geomagnetic field. Note how field lines leave Earth from the geographic South pole and enter through the geographic North pole.  The magnetic inclination, which is the angle between the magnetic field vector and the tangent to Earth's surface, changes continuously over latitude with values of $\pm 90^\circ$ at the geomagnetic South/North poles and $0^\circ$ at the geomagnetic equator. \label{geomagnetic-field}}
\end{figure}
\end{document}