Sounds like either your battery isn't charged, is dead, or not inside your laptop. For Windows: when your laptop is on, you'll see a battery icon in the tray. It'll have a line through it if you don't have the battery installed or if it's dead. If the charge won't pass 10%, try using a different AC Adapter (get one with the right voltage by referring to your laptop's manual).
If you have a Mac laptop, the battery isn't removable, so you're either using the wrong charger (and it's not charging your batter) or your battery is dead. Take it to a Genius bar to try other adapters to narrow down what the issue is.