base 3 is a positional numeral system with three as its base. It uses 3 different digits for representing numbers. The digits for base 3 could be 0, 1, and 2.

base 21 is a positional numeral system with twenty-one as its base. It uses 21 different digits for representing numbers. The digits for base 21 could be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, and k.