Dominant
The short version
The chord built on the fifth note of the key — it wants to go home.
In C major, the dominant is G. It creates a pull, and landing back on C afterwards feels like a door closing properly.
Why you'd careTension then release is most of what makes a chord progression satisfying. Dominant to tonic is the classic move.
Go deeper
Add a seventh (G-B-D-F) and the pull gets stronger, because the B wants up to C and the F wants down to E. That's a dominant seventh chord.
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