[jQuery] how to access "checked" attribute on a toggle

[jQuery] how to access "checked" attribute on a toggle


This is incredibly basic, but I'm missing something. I have this html:
<input class="show_tog" type="checkbox" checked="" name="tog_0"/>
I want to find the toggle and get the value of checked. I have tried
the following, but nothing works:
alert ($("#tog_0").attr("checked"));
alert ($("#tog_0").checked);
both give me undefined.
$("#tog_0") is giving me an object.
What am I missing?
--
Chris