Fractional distillation separates which of the following?

• A. Two or more liquids with different boiling points
• B. A solid from a liquid by filtration
• C. A gas from a liquid by cooling
• D. A liquid by evaporation

Answer: (A)

Fractional distillation relies on differences in boiling points to separate liquids in a mixture. When heated, the component with the lower boiling point begins to boil and form vapour. These vapours rise through a fractionating column where they repeatedly condense and re‑evaporate, which enriches the distillate in the substance with the lower boiling point. The higher‑boiling components stay mostly in the liquid phase and are left behind in the original container or collected as a separate fraction later. So this method is used specifically to separate two or more liquids with different boiling points. Filtration separates a solid from a liquid, cooling condenses a gas into a liquid, and evaporation turns a liquid into vapour without separating different liquids.