Which of the following Java data types is used for fractional numbers?

The selection of the data type that accommodates fractional numbers is indeed the float data type. In Java, float is specifically designed to store single-precision 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point numbers, which means it can represent both whole numbers and numbers with fractional components. For instance, a value like 3.14 can be stored in a float variable.

In contrast, the int and byte data types are designed for whole numbers. Int represents a 32-bit signed integer, while byte is an 8-bit signed integer, both of which cannot accommodate any decimal or fractional values. The char data type, on the other hand, is used for representing single 16-bit Unicode characters and does not relate to numerical values at all.

Thus, float is the appropriate choice for representing numbers containing fractions in Java.