How does negative feedback in op-amps contribute to stability and performance in a circuit?

Negative feedback in an op‑amp takes a portion of the output and feeds it back to the input with a sign that opposes the input signal, which forces the output to match the input more accurately. This opposition reduces the effective gain but makes the gain depend mainly on the external resistors instead of the op‑amp’s internal variations, so the circuit behaves predictably. Because the feedback limits the output swing, it also damps oscillations and reduces distortion and noise, giving the circuit greater stability over temperature and supply changes. For example, an inverting amplifier with a 1 kΩ input resistor and a 9 kΩ feedback resistor will have a stable 10× gain, regardless of the op‑amp’s own high open‑loop gain. Thus, negative feedback trades off raw gain for improved linearity, stability, and performance.