I am white when I am dirty, and black when I am clean. What am I?

There is a river to cross using a river raft and there are eight people (father, mother, policeman, thief, 2 daughters and 2 sons). No one knows to operate the raft except the adults and also excluding the thief. Only two people can go in the raft at a time. The raft should keep coming back and forth in order to pick and drop the people.
Rules to be followed:
Father: the father cannot stay in the raft or outside the raft without the presence of the mother.
Mother: the mother cannot stay in the raft or outside the rat without the presence of the father.
Thief: the thief is not allowed to stay with any of the family members unless there is a policeman.
Policeman: the policeman can travel with anyone.
2 sons and 2 daughters: they are not allowed to travel in the raft without the presence of an adult. They cannot either travel in the presence of only thieves without the policeman. The sons cannot be with their mothers without their father's supervision. The daughters are not allowed to be there with their fathers without the supervision of their mothers. But the daughters and the sons can be left unsupervised (as long as the other rules are applied).
What is the sequence that the people should follow in order to cross the river through the raft keeping in mind all the rules?
The rules are applicable not only in the raft but also outside the raft.

If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it?

There are 2 sand hourglasses.

The small one can measure 5 hours and the large one can measure 7 hours.

How can we measure 16 hours with 2 sand hourglasses running together ?

A cricket has 6 legs, a squirrel has 4 legs and a spider has 8 legs.

In a local zoo, it was found that the total number of legs is 612. Also, there are equal number of each of the above animals/insects.

Can you find out how many animals are there in the zoo?

A man looks at a painting in a museum and says, “Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the painting?

You are in a land where thirty men and two women were dressed in classic black and white dresses.
They begin to fight as soon as any of them move.

Where are you?

Can you place three balls such that the equation shown in the picture holds true?

A man was driving a black truck. His lights were not on. The moon was not out. A lady was crossing the street. How did the man see her?

John was piloting a plane behind a car but was never able to overtake it. Why?