Abstract: A kind of nonlinear chaotic pendulum system is introduced into the experiment teaching.By adjusting the period of the driving force of the chaotic pendulum，the process of chaotic phenomena appearing in the nonlinear dynamic system is demonstrated so that students can understand the basic characteristics of chaotic phenomena，such as parameter sensitivity，phase diagram characteristics，spectrum characteristics and so on.In order to further under-stand the characteristics of the chaotic pendulum，a simplified dynamic equation of the nonlinear pendulum system is established and studied numerically.The numerical simulation based on dynamic equation overcame the difficulties of quantitative change of experimental parameters，difficult control of swing stability and long experimental period.In the numerical simulation，the related characteristics of the chaotic pendulum is described in detail by changing the phase diagram，spectrum diagram and bifurcation diagram obtained by different parameters，which is also helpful for students to deepen their understanding of the chaotic pendulum.

Key words: chaotic pendulum, numerical simulation, phase diagram, bifurcation diagram