An intermediate step in the process that ultimately produces sulfuric acid, is the catalytic oxidation of so2 to so3. vanadium(v) oxide is the catalyst. the three chemical species in the reaction are in equilibrium as follows: 2so2(g)+o2(g)⇌2so3(g) which of the following are true statements about this reaction? when so2 is mixed with o2 in a container, the initial rate of the forward reaction (production of so3) is faster than the initial rate of the reverse reaction (production of so2). as so2 is used up and so3 accumulates, the rate of the forward reaction increases and the rate of the reverse reaction decreases. at equilibrium the rate of production of so3 reaches zero. at equilibrium the concentration of so2 will no longer be changing.