1. The problem asks to find the probability $P(E)$ where $E$ is the event "an odd number less than 9" from the sample space $S = \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10\}$. 2. The formula for probability of an event $E$ is: $$P(E) = \frac{\text{Number of favorable outcomes}}{\text{Total number of outcomes}}$$ 3. Identify the favorable outcomes for event $E$: Odd numbers less than 9 in $S$ are $1, 3, 5, 7$. 4. Count the favorable outcomes: There are 4 favorable outcomes. 5. Count the total outcomes in $S$: There are 10 outcomes in total. 6. Calculate the probability: $$P(E) = \frac{4}{10}$$ 7. Simplify the fraction by canceling common factors: $$P(E) = \frac{\cancel{4}}{\cancel{10}} = \frac{2}{5}$$ 8. Convert to decimal if needed: $$P(E) = 0.4$$ Final answer: $P(E) = 0.4$