Why do compounds containing more carbon have more potential energy?
i may have worded that wrong.
i'm talking about hydrocarbon and specifically alcohols. Is it just because of the 4 bonds it's capable of making, or is carbon itself increasing the energy content? How? A good website would be helpful as well :)
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Potential energy is all energy not directly associated with motion.
An alcohol is NOT a hydrocarbon.
More energy than WHAT?? You seem to be claiming that CH4 has "more potential energy" than UF6.
But surely you have more sense than that?
There is no question that the bond energy is a type of potential energy, so the more bonds, the more potential energy, everything else being equal. The chemical potential energy of a molecule is DWARFED by the energy of the mass itself. E=mc². Hence, increasing mass will almost (but not quite) always increase the total potential energy of a system (ceteris paribus). Generally, chemistry is NOT interested in the total potential energy of a system. It is only interested in the chemical energy (this includes bond energy, electrostatic energy, and also movement of bonds: rotations, vibrations, etc.
I am sorry if you are incapable of finding "a good website". Your question is so vague, I really can't direct you to one.