The measurement of the moment of inertia of a rigid body with a three-wire pendulum is an important part of the experimental teaching of basic mechanics for engineering majors. Although the experiment has been practiced and improved for many years, the results of the experiment are often not satisfactory, which greatly dampens students enthusiasm for learning. This article introduces improvements and teaching experience during recent years in the three-wire pendulum experiment from the experimental team of the Mechanics Experimental Teaching Center of Zhejiang University, aiming to inspiring more attracting ideas.

Keywords： three-wire pendulum; moment of inertia; error analysis; experimental improvement; teaching experience