Here's how it works:

1. Heating: The mixture is heated, causing the substance with the lower boiling point to vaporize first.

2. Condensation: The vapor is then cooled, causing it to condense back into a liquid.

3. Collection: The condensed liquid (the substance with the lower boiling point) is collected separately.

Examples of substances separated by distillation:

* Water and ethanol: Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water, so it can be separated from a mixture of the two by distillation.

* Crude oil: Crude oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with different boiling points. Distillation is used to separate crude oil into different fractions, such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel.

* Alcohol from fermented beverages: Distillation is used to increase the alcohol content of fermented beverages, such as wine and beer.

Key takeaway: Distillation is a powerful separation technique that exploits the difference in boiling points between substances in a mixture.