Why will a block of iron float in mercury but sink in water?

If a star is moving toward earth, it is

Amass m = 74 kg slides on a frictionless track that has a drop, followed by a loop-the-loop with radius r = 18.4 m and finally a flat straight section at the same height as the center of the loop (18.4 m off the ground). since the mass would not make it around the loop if released from the height of the top of the loop (do you know why? ) it must be released above the top of the loop-the-loop height. (assume the mass never leaves the smooth track at any point on its path.) 1. what is the minimum speed the block must have at the top of the loop to make it around the loop-the-loop without leaving the track? 2. what height above the ground must the mass begin to make it around the loop-the-loop? 3. if the mass has just enough speed to make it around the loop without leaving the track, what will its speed be at the bottom of the loop? 4. if the mass has just enough speed to make it around the loop without leaving the track, what is its speed at the final flat level (18.4 m off the ground)? 5. now a spring with spring constant k = 15600 n/m is used on the final flat surface to stop the mass. how far does the spring compress?

People with normal vision cannot focus their eyes underwater if they aren't wearing a face mask or goggles and there is water in contact with their eyes. in a simplified model of the human eye, the aqueous and vitreous humors and the lens all have a refractive index of 1.40, and all the refraction occurs at the cornea, whose vertex is 2.60 cm from the retina. with the simplified model of the eye, what corrective lens (specified by focal length as measured in air) would be needed to enable a person underwater to focus an infinitely distant object? (be careful-the focal length of a lens underwater is not the same as in air! assume that the corrective lens has a refractive index of 1.62 and that the lens is used in eyeglasses, not goggles, so there is water on both sides of the lens. assume that the eyeglasses are 2.05cm in front of the eye.)