  We give a hydrodynamical explanation for the chaotic behaviour of a dripping
faucet using the results of the stability analysis of a static pendant drop and
a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the complete dynamics. We find that
the only relevant modes are the two classical normal forms associated with a
Saddle-Node-Andronov bifurcation and a Shilnikov homoclinic bifurcation. This
allows us to construct a hierarchy of reduced order models including maps and
ordinary differential equations which are able to qualitatively explain prior
experiments and numerical simulations of the governing partial differential
equations and provide an explanation for the complexity in dripping. We also
provide a new mechanical analogue for the dripping faucet and a simple
rationale for the transition from dripping to jetting modes in the flow from a
faucet.
