Testing if a checkbox is checked with jQuery
Use .is(':checked') to determine whether or not it's checked, and then set your value accordingly.
$("#ans").attr('checked') will tell you if it's checked. You can also use a second parameter true/false to check/uncheck the checkbox.
$("#ans").attr('checked', true);Per comment, use prop instead of attr when available. E.g:
$("#ans").prop('checked')
Just use $(selector).is(':checked')
It returns a boolean value.