> If I drop my bowling ball, it has lower potential energy, but can't some of that be compensated for by the Earth-ball system radiating a gravitational wave (r

> If I drop my bowling ball, it has lower potential energy, but can't some of that be compensated for by the Earth-ball system radiating a gravitational wave (rather than all being converted into kinetic energy)? Nothing wrong with your comment, but I just want to emphasize that for objects smaller than stars, the amount of energy carried by gravitational waves ranges from tiny to unimaginably tiny. The Earth-Moon system emits about 7 microwatts of gravitational waves. A bowling ball in low earth orbit would radiate about 5*10^-41 W, which is roughly equivalent to one photon of visible light every quadrillion years.