What four weights can be used to balance from 1 to 30 pounds?

A chess tournament is taking place on knock-out terms (the one who loses the match is out of the game).
(a) If 10 matches are played in total, how many players participated?
(b) If 20 players took part in the tournament, how many matches were played?

John was writing his first book. After saving the document, he locked his laptop with a password and mentioned some phrases for the hint box.

A friend of his tried opening his laptop but found out that it was password protected. Following is the hint that appeared.
1 mobile 3 books 2 roars 1 night 4 balls 2 lighters 1 ghost 1 hat 3 watches.

Can you help him in cracking the password?

In front of you, there are 9 coins. They all look absolutely identical, but one of the coins is fake. However, you know that the fake coin is lighter than the rest, and in front of you is a balance scale. What is the least number of weightings you can use to find the counterfeit coin?

Thomas has missed an excessive number of days of school, so he must meet with Principal Davis. Mr. Davis asks him "Why on Earth have you missed so many days?" Thomas replies "There just isn't enough time for school. I need 8 hours of sleep a day, which adds up to about 122 days a year. Weekends off is 104 days a year. Summer vacation is about 60 days. If I spend about an hour on each meal, that's 3 hours a day or 45 days a year. I need at least 2 hours of exercise and relaxation time each day to stay physically and mentally fit, adding another 30 days. Add all of that up and you get about 361 days. That only leaves 4 days for school." The principal knows Thomas is full of it, but can't figure out why. Where is Thomas going wrong?

A man who was outside in the rain without an umbrella or hat didn’t get a single hair on his head wet. Why?

Find the Next Number in the Sequence

2 9 3 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 ?

Two boys wish to cross a river. The only way to get to the other side is by boat, but that boat can only take one boy at a time. The boat cannot return on its own, there are no ropes or similar tricks, yet both boys manage to cross using the boat.

How?

In the picture given below, can you find out which digit will take place of the question mark?

The day before yesterday I was 25 and the next year I will be 28. This is true only one day in a year. What day is my birthday?