Repeated $(this)

Repeated $(this)

In jQuery, the element being acted upon is often passed to the function parameter of a jQuery function as this. It can be made into a jQuery element object by using $(this) in the function parameter, ex:

$('.menu a').each(function(){
$(this).animate({paddingLeft: $(this).width()}, 200);
});


My question is, since (I assume) at least the first instance of $(this) initializes the a element as a jQuery element object with all of the extended features of jQuery, does the second one do this all over again, or does it recognise that the element has already been initialized, and simply accesses it as the initialized jQuery object that it already is?

In other words, would it be any more efficient to do:

Code:
$('.menu a').each(function(){
var a = $(this);
a.animate({paddingLeft: a.width()}, 200);
});


?
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