Given below are two statements: Statement I: Vapours of the liquid with higher boiling point condense before vapours of the liquid with lower boiling points in fractional distillation. Statement II: The vapours rising up in the fractionating column become richer in high boiling component of the mixture. In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Step-by-step solution

In fractional distillation, the temperature of the fractionating column decreases from bottom to top. As the vapours of the mixture rise, they cool and undergo condensation. The component with the higher boiling point condenses at a higher temperature, meaning it condenses earlier (lower down the column) than the component with the lower boiling point. Thus, Statement I is true. As the vapours rise up the fractionating column, the higher boiling component continuously condenses and falls back as liquid, while the l