If ? h°rxn and ? s°rxn are both negative values, what drives the spontaneous reaction and in what direction at standard conditions?

The release of free energy drives the spontaneous reaction.

Spontaneity can be determined using the change in Gibbs free energy (the thermodynamic potencial):

delta G=delta H – T*delta S

where delta H is the enthalpy and delta S is the entropy.

The direction (the sign) of delta G depends of the changes of enthalpy and entropy. If delta G is negative then the process is spontaneous.

In our case, both delta H and delta S are negative values, the process as said is spontaneous which means that it may proceed in the forward direction.

Entropy Driven to The Left

Explanation:

In the problem it mentions how both ΔH & ΔS are both negative that would lead to a entropy situation where the reaction is driven to the left.  

the focus of lesson 1 is newton's first law of motion - sometimes referred to as the law of inertia. newton's first law of motion is often stated as. an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

explanation: