Systems have a tendency to achieve as low of a free energy state as possible. The Gibbs free energy number is how far away the current system is from this state. It is analogous to a number line, with zero being the final state. Scientists use Gibbs free energy to determine the energy in a system that can be used. A negative Gibbs number indicates that you can get energy out of the reaction. It is a favorable reaction, which means that the chemical reaction "wants" to move towards its lower state. A positive Gibbs number shows that you must put energy in to get energy out.