The gas is cooled in the condenser until the temperature falls below the boiling point when it condenses back into a liquid which is collected in a container
The lowest boiling substance boils away, while the other components of the mixture remain until the lowest boiling component has all boiled off. Only then does the temperature of the remaining mixture rise and other components are boiled off.
We use filtration frequently--in our coffee makers, automobile fuel lines, automobile air cleaners to name only a few examples.
Chromatography is used to separate and identify all sorts of substances in police work. Drugs from narcotics to aspirin can be identified in urine and blood samples, often with the aid of chromatography.