Final answer:
Fractional distillation is used in the production of alcoholic spirits like brandy or whiskey, where mixtures of water and alcohol are separated into multiple distilled alcoholic products based on their boiling points.
Step-by-step explanation:
Aside from the refining of crude petroleum into various fuels and oils, another mixture of liquids separated on an industrial scale by fractional distillation is the production of alcoholic spirits, such as brandy or whiskey. In this process, a mixture of water and alcohol is heated, causing the components with lower boiling points (like ethanol) to vaporize first. These vapors rise up the distillation column, condensing at different heights according to their boiling points, and are then collected as separate products. This detailed understanding of fractional distillation illustrates how different substances, due to variations in boiling points, can be extracted from a complex mixture.