The correct statement explaining why ethanol is collected as the distillate during fractional distillation is:
C. Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water.
Substances are separated according to their boiling points in fractional distillation.
Although ethanol and water combine to form an azeotropic mixture, ethanol's boiling point is lower than water's, at 78.37°C as opposed to 100°C.
Because of their different boiling points, ethanol may evaporate and condense at a lower temperature, which enables it to be separated from water during the distillation process and collected as the distillate.